Entertainment and Politics in Contemporary China

Abstract

This book advances research about China by providing an updated narrative of its entertainment life in the beginning of China's twenty-first century. As the rest of the world continues to pay keen attention to developments in China's politics, economy, and culture, the book provides insights on fascinating new developments in contemporary Chinese popular culture--including its reality television, family dramas centered around younger generations' life struggles, and social media. Furthermore, Entertainment and Politics in Contemporary China is the first book to apply the theoretical innovation of an aesthetic public sphere in examining closely the linkages between China's political life and activities in the country's culture sphere. Since concepts of public sphere and democracy largely took root from the West, Wu argues that this case study of China promises valuable insights about entertainment's role in the formation of citizenship and building of a civil society, which remains a site of great contention in Western theories and empirical efforts. Acknowledgements; Contents; Chapter 1 Introduction; Redefining Politics: From a de-Politicized Public Sphere to an Aesthetic Public Sphere; The Habermasian Public Sphere: A Normative Notion of Politics; Redefining Politics: A Cultural Perspective; Aesthetic Public Sphere: Connecting the Cultural Citizens to the Public Sphere; Multiple Modernities and Transcending Theoretical Divides; China's Entertainment Television in the Twenty-First Century; The Politics of Voting for the Next Super Girl; Entertainment Production and the Future of China's Cultural Industry. Stories of New Generations and Social Justice"Authoritarianism With Chinese Characteristics"; Chapter Overview; References; Chapter 2 An Internet with Chinese Characteristics; (Dis)Connection to a Globalizing World; Convergence of Entertainment and Public Sphere in New Media Contexts; Empirical Framework of the Book; Super Girl; If You Are the One; Dwelling Narrowness and Naked Wedding; Analytic Framework; References; Chapter 3 Voting for the Next Super Girl and Political Talk; Super Girl, A Political Affair; Ever Changing and More Complicated Selection Mechanism; Voting and Representation. Voting and FairnessVoting and Political Culture; Conclusion; References; Chapter 4 Stories of New Generations and Social Justice; Newly Coined Terms and China's Developmental Tensions; Moral Ambiguities in a New China; Manipulation of a Talent Show, Mistrust Toward Cultural Institutions; Manipulation Beyond the Camera, the Invisible Hand; Conclusion; References; Chapter 5 Entertainment Production and the Future of China's Cultural Industry; Reality Television and Cultural Concerns in China's Twenty-First Century; If You are the One, A Large-scale Public Service Program. Producing a National Star, Where China Stands on the Global StageSocial Bonding via Cultural Commentaries; Conclusion; References; Chapter 6 Conclusion: Convergence of Entertainment and Politics in Contemporary China; Deference of political conversations to entertainment; Entertaining Politics and Political Entertainment; References; Index.