Course Description

How does China’s changing environment shape the lives of women in diverse Chinese societies? How are the histories and experiences of Chinese women depicted and conveyed through the medium of motion pictures? Drawing on the fields of History, Cultural Studies, Gender Studies, Sociology, and Media Studies, Herstory in Motion offers an interdisciplinary perspective on the multifaceted stories of women as they unfold within Chinese-language cinema. From the lives of concubines in a feudal society, to the office ladies searching for Mr. Right in cosmopolitan cities, it aims to highlight the intersections between gender and society in cinematic representation and illustrate how motion pictures, as a visual art form, can shed light on the changing social and cultural landscape of Chinese societies and contribute to the diverse discourse on gender, identity, and women’s experiences. By analysing a wide array of films, documentaries, and short-form videos that span different periods, genres, and regions within the Chinese-speaking world, this course enables students to develop a nuanced understanding of the ways in which women’s stories are presented, represented, and communicated to their spectators on screen. It also sensitizes students to the intersectionality of gender, class, and ethnicity within the changing Chinese societies.

Course Learning Outcomes

On completing the course, students will be able to:

1. Explain how Chinese women’s histories and experiences are portrayed and represented in different cinematic medium.
2. Analyze how filmmakers or creators employ diverse stylistic choices, thematic concerns, and narrative structures to tell complex stories of women in Chinese societies.
3. Critically examine women’s narratives in Chinese-language cinema from interdisciplinary and intersectional perspectives.
4. Evaluate the impact of socio-political and cultural changes in diverse societies on the depiction of women’s experiences and subjectivity in Chinese-language cinema.
5. Collaboratively create a short creative video work that demonstrates gender awareness, critical thinking, and a compassionate understanding of women’s experiences in Chinese societies.

Offer Semester and Day of Teaching

First semester (Wed)

Movies:

• 20 30 40. (2004).
• Blind Mountain. (2007).
• Full Moon in New York. (1989).
• Golden Chicken. (2002).
• If You Are the One. (2008).
• Our Times. (2015).
• Raise the Red Lantern. (1991).
• Summer Snow. (1995).
• Tiny Times. (2013).

Readings:

• Cui, S. (2003). Reconstructing History The (Im)possible Engagement between Feminism and Postmodernism in Stanley Kwan’s Center Stage. Women through the Lens: Gender and Nation in a Century of Chinese Cinema. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. [pp. 30-46]
• Feng, P. (2010). Reimagining the Femme Fatale: Gender and Nation in Fruit Chan’s Hollywood Hong Kong. In E. M. K. Cheung, G. Marchetti & T. S. Kam (Eds.), Hong Kong Screenscapes (pp. 253-262). Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press.
• Kung, K. W. -S. (2018). The Reconstruction of the Image of Chinese Female Immigrants in Full Moon in New York, Siao Yu, and Finding Mr. Right. Canadian Review of Comparative Literature, 45(3), 424-437.
• Lee, V. P. Y. (2020). The Other Side of Glamour: The Left-Wing Studio Network in Hong Kong Cinema in the Cold War Era and Beyond. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
• Lei, C. (2021). ‘Indecent’ Women and Gendered Memory: Reflective Nostalgia in Hong Kong Cinema. Asian Journal of Communication, 31(3), 163-178.
• Leung, H. H. (2015). Love In The City: The Placing of Intimacy in Urban Romance Films. In E. M. K. Cheung, G. Marchetti & E. C. M. Yau (Eds.), A Companion to Hong Kong Cinema (pp. 265-282). MA: John Wiley & Sons Inc.
• Liu, F. (2014). From degendering to (re)gendering the self: Chinese youth negotiating modern womanhood. Gender and Education, 26(1), 18-34.
• Meng, X., & Literat, I. (2023). # AverageYetConfidentMen: Chinese stand-up comedy and feminist discourse on Douyin. Feminist Media Studies, 1-17.
• Shin, H. (2021). Voices of the “Comfort Women”: The Power Politics Surrounding the UNESCO Documentary Heritage. The Asia-Pacific Journal, 19(5), 1-19.

Course Co-ordinator and Teacher(s)