Construction of New Female Image in Early Modern China - Review of <i>Performing China: Female Stars, Performance Culture, Visual Politics, 1910-1945 </i>by Huiling Zhou

Zi hui Dai

doi:doi:10.11648/j.hss.20241205.15

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Construction of New Female Image in Early Modern China - Review of Performing China: Female Stars, Performance Culture, Visual Politics, 1910-1945 by Huiling Zhou

Zi hui Dai^*

Published in Humanities and Social Sciences (Volume 12, Issue 5)

Received: 22 August 2024 Accepted: 25 September 2024 Published: 29 September 2024

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Abstract

The author of the book Performing China: Female Stars, Performance Culture, Visual Politics, 1910-1945, Huiling Zhou, through the method of careful cross-text reading of cultural and video data and the theory of performance cultural studies, studies the tortuous course of constructing new female images of Chinses women represented by female film stars in the early 1920s and 1930s. They are not only “theater actresses” on the screen, but also “social actresses” in social practice. In face of various social opinions, gossip and party comments at that time, early Chinese female stars found ways to release themselves in their screen roles and real lives in the real society. Their performances in the process of China’s modernization revealed the society’s conception of the country, urban scene and female image at that time. Hollywood’s influence on Chinese films in the 1930s was profound and extensive, from the portrayal of urban women in China to the demonstration of film marketing strategies. From the perspective of film performance, the author analyzes the process of cross-cultural communication and interaction between China and the United States in the 1930s, involving various aspects of film, literature, politics, painting and industry. The difficulty of reading this book lies in its strong theoretical nature. Then, the film documents and image data selected by the author in the early 1920s and 1930s are relatively unknown to many people today. The author’s cultural research method with visual as core of cross-cultural interaction research can make us have some new thinking about many popular cultural forms at present, and broaden our vision and thinking.

Published in	Humanities and Social Sciences (Volume 12, Issue 5)
DOI	10.11648/j.hss.20241205.15
Page(s)	142-145
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Female Stars, Film Marketing, Visual Arts, Cross-Cultural Interaction

References

[1]	Zhou Huiling. Performing China: Female Stars, Performance Culture, Visual Politics, 1910-1945. Taipei: Maitian Publishing House; 2004, pp. 23, cover page, 182.
[2]	Liu Xiaolei. Film Legend: When Cinema Enters China. Shanghai: Shanghai Sanlian Bookstore, 2006; pp. 76, 98.
[3]	Coca-Cola's History and Memory of Old Shanghai 1930-1940s Photo collection: Coca-Cola's History and Memory of Old Shanghai 1930-1940s photo collection, Available from: https://baijiahao.baidu.com/s?id=1677045550600015338&wfr=spider&for=pc (accessed October 15, 2023)
[4]	Zhu Jingwen. Laura Mulvey: Analysis of Visual Pleasure and Narrative Film, Journal of Social Sciences of Harbin Normal Unibersity; 2024(5), 141-143.
[5]	Laura Mulvey, Anna Beckman Rogers, Anne Van den Auver, et al. “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Film” published 40 years ago: Three Comments on Feminist film Studies. Journal of Beijing Film Academy; 2022(3), 83-90.
[6]	Zhang Wei. City, Film, Media: Notes on Movies of the Republic of China. Shanghai: Tongji University Press; 2010, pp. 56-70.
[7]	Tian Weiwei. Analysis of Visual Metaphor and Creative Strategy in movie posters. Design; 2022(9), 100-102.
[8]	Cai Wenting. American Animated Film Culture from Kung Fu Panda. Film Literature; 2017(21), 130-132.
[9]	Xue Ke, Yu Mingyang. Introduction to Cultural Creativity. Shanghai: Fudan University Press; 2021, pp. 75-97.
[10]	Zengyue. The image construction and identity of female caricatures in the Republic of China: A case study of Guo Jianying and Liang Baibo. Journal of Nanjing University of the Arts (Arts and Design); 2017(01), 103-106.
[11]	Wang Jinyang. The evolution of female image in the Republic of China: A case study of cosmetics advertisement in Shenbao 1910-1936. Master’s thesis, Jinan, Shandong University, 2013.
[12]	Xu Lingnan. A Semiotic Study of Nostalgic culture: the revival of Shanghai culture in the 1930s in the “Two Sister” advertisement. Master’s thesis, Shanghai, Shanghai International Studies University, 2012.
[13]	Wang Linlin. The New female Images on the screen of New China and their literary Value. Film Literature; 2019(23), 84-86.
[14]	Zhang Mei. Diverse Women Under the Illusion of the Screen: The portrayal of Women in Chinese Films in the 1930s. Audiovisual; 2019(07), 80-81. https://doi.org/10.19395/j.cnki.1674-246x.2019.07.041
[15]	Chen Jide, Chen Yue. The types and causes of new female images in early Chinese films. Journal of Jiangsu Social Sciences, 2021(04), 185-192. https://doi.org/10.13858/j.cnki.cn32-1312/c.20210727.023

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APA Style

Dai, Z. H. (2024). Construction of New Female Image in Early Modern China - Review of Performing China: Female Stars, Performance Culture, Visual Politics, 1910-1945 by Huiling Zhou. Humanities and Social Sciences, 12(5), 142-145. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.hss.20241205.15

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Dai, Z. H. Construction of New Female Image in Early Modern China - Review of Performing China: Female Stars, Performance Culture, Visual Politics, 1910-1945 by Huiling Zhou. Humanit. Soc. Sci. 2024, 12(5), 142-145. doi: 10.11648/j.hss.20241205.15

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AMA Style

Dai ZH. Construction of New Female Image in Early Modern China - Review of Performing China: Female Stars, Performance Culture, Visual Politics, 1910-1945 by Huiling Zhou. Humanit Soc Sci. 2024;12(5):142-145. doi: 10.11648/j.hss.20241205.15

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@article{10.11648/j.hss.20241205.15,
  author = {Zi hui Dai},
  title = {Construction of New Female Image in Early Modern China - Review of Performing China: Female Stars, Performance Culture, Visual Politics, 1910-1945 by Huiling Zhou
},
  journal = {Humanities and Social Sciences},
  volume = {12},
  number = {5},
  pages = {142-145},
  doi = {10.11648/j.hss.20241205.15},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.hss.20241205.15},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.hss.20241205.15},
  abstract = {The author of the book Performing China: Female Stars, Performance Culture, Visual Politics, 1910-1945, Huiling Zhou, through the method of careful cross-text reading of cultural and video data and the theory of performance cultural studies, studies the tortuous course of constructing new female images of Chinses women represented by female film stars in the early 1920s and 1930s. They are not only “theater actresses” on the screen, but also “social actresses” in social practice. In face of various social opinions, gossip and party comments at that time, early Chinese female stars found ways to release themselves in their screen roles and real lives in the real society. Their performances in the process of China’s modernization revealed the society’s conception of the country, urban scene and female image at that time. Hollywood’s influence on Chinese films in the 1930s was profound and extensive, from the portrayal of urban women in China to the demonstration of film marketing strategies. From the perspective of film performance, the author analyzes the process of cross-cultural communication and interaction between China and the United States in the 1930s, involving various aspects of film, literature, politics, painting and industry. The difficulty of reading this book lies in its strong theoretical nature. Then, the film documents and image data selected by the author in the early 1920s and 1930s are relatively unknown to many people today. The author’s cultural research method with visual as core of cross-cultural interaction research can make us have some new thinking about many popular cultural forms at present, and broaden our vision and thinking.
},
 year = {2024}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - Construction of New Female Image in Early Modern China - Review of Performing China: Female Stars, Performance Culture, Visual Politics, 1910-1945 by Huiling Zhou

AU  - Zi hui Dai
Y1  - 2024/09/29
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AB  - The author of the book Performing China: Female Stars, Performance Culture, Visual Politics, 1910-1945, Huiling Zhou, through the method of careful cross-text reading of cultural and video data and the theory of performance cultural studies, studies the tortuous course of constructing new female images of Chinses women represented by female film stars in the early 1920s and 1930s. They are not only “theater actresses” on the screen, but also “social actresses” in social practice. In face of various social opinions, gossip and party comments at that time, early Chinese female stars found ways to release themselves in their screen roles and real lives in the real society. Their performances in the process of China’s modernization revealed the society’s conception of the country, urban scene and female image at that time. Hollywood’s influence on Chinese films in the 1930s was profound and extensive, from the portrayal of urban women in China to the demonstration of film marketing strategies. From the perspective of film performance, the author analyzes the process of cross-cultural communication and interaction between China and the United States in the 1930s, involving various aspects of film, literature, politics, painting and industry. The difficulty of reading this book lies in its strong theoretical nature. Then, the film documents and image data selected by the author in the early 1920s and 1930s are relatively unknown to many people today. The author’s cultural research method with visual as core of cross-cultural interaction research can make us have some new thinking about many popular cultural forms at present, and broaden our vision and thinking.

VL  - 12
IS  - 5
ER  -

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Zi hui Dai

Department of Chinese and History, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China

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APA Style

Dai, Z. H. (2024). Construction of New Female Image in Early Modern China - Review of Performing China: Female Stars, Performance Culture, Visual Politics, 1910-1945 by Huiling Zhou. Humanities and Social Sciences, 12(5), 142-145. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.hss.20241205.15

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ACS Style

Dai, Z. H. Construction of New Female Image in Early Modern China - Review of Performing China: Female Stars, Performance Culture, Visual Politics, 1910-1945 by Huiling Zhou. Humanit. Soc. Sci. 2024, 12(5), 142-145. doi: 10.11648/j.hss.20241205.15

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AMA Style

Dai ZH. Construction of New Female Image in Early Modern China - Review of Performing China: Female Stars, Performance Culture, Visual Politics, 1910-1945 by Huiling Zhou. Humanit Soc Sci. 2024;12(5):142-145. doi: 10.11648/j.hss.20241205.15

Copy | Download

@article{10.11648/j.hss.20241205.15,
  author = {Zi hui Dai},
  title = {Construction of New Female Image in Early Modern China - Review of Performing China: Female Stars, Performance Culture, Visual Politics, 1910-1945 by Huiling Zhou
},
  journal = {Humanities and Social Sciences},
  volume = {12},
  number = {5},
  pages = {142-145},
  doi = {10.11648/j.hss.20241205.15},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.hss.20241205.15},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.hss.20241205.15},
  abstract = {The author of the book Performing China: Female Stars, Performance Culture, Visual Politics, 1910-1945, Huiling Zhou, through the method of careful cross-text reading of cultural and video data and the theory of performance cultural studies, studies the tortuous course of constructing new female images of Chinses women represented by female film stars in the early 1920s and 1930s. They are not only “theater actresses” on the screen, but also “social actresses” in social practice. In face of various social opinions, gossip and party comments at that time, early Chinese female stars found ways to release themselves in their screen roles and real lives in the real society. Their performances in the process of China’s modernization revealed the society’s conception of the country, urban scene and female image at that time. Hollywood’s influence on Chinese films in the 1930s was profound and extensive, from the portrayal of urban women in China to the demonstration of film marketing strategies. From the perspective of film performance, the author analyzes the process of cross-cultural communication and interaction between China and the United States in the 1930s, involving various aspects of film, literature, politics, painting and industry. The difficulty of reading this book lies in its strong theoretical nature. Then, the film documents and image data selected by the author in the early 1920s and 1930s are relatively unknown to many people today. The author’s cultural research method with visual as core of cross-cultural interaction research can make us have some new thinking about many popular cultural forms at present, and broaden our vision and thinking.
},
 year = {2024}
}

Copy | Download

TY  - JOUR
T1  - Construction of New Female Image in Early Modern China - Review of Performing China: Female Stars, Performance Culture, Visual Politics, 1910-1945 by Huiling Zhou

AU  - Zi hui Dai
Y1  - 2024/09/29
PY  - 2024
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.hss.20241205.15
DO  - 10.11648/j.hss.20241205.15
T2  - Humanities and Social Sciences
JF  - Humanities and Social Sciences
JO  - Humanities and Social Sciences
SP  - 142
EP  - 145
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2330-8184
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.hss.20241205.15
AB  - The author of the book Performing China: Female Stars, Performance Culture, Visual Politics, 1910-1945, Huiling Zhou, through the method of careful cross-text reading of cultural and video data and the theory of performance cultural studies, studies the tortuous course of constructing new female images of Chinses women represented by female film stars in the early 1920s and 1930s. They are not only “theater actresses” on the screen, but also “social actresses” in social practice. In face of various social opinions, gossip and party comments at that time, early Chinese female stars found ways to release themselves in their screen roles and real lives in the real society. Their performances in the process of China’s modernization revealed the society’s conception of the country, urban scene and female image at that time. Hollywood’s influence on Chinese films in the 1930s was profound and extensive, from the portrayal of urban women in China to the demonstration of film marketing strategies. From the perspective of film performance, the author analyzes the process of cross-cultural communication and interaction between China and the United States in the 1930s, involving various aspects of film, literature, politics, painting and industry. The difficulty of reading this book lies in its strong theoretical nature. Then, the film documents and image data selected by the author in the early 1920s and 1930s are relatively unknown to many people today. The author’s cultural research method with visual as core of cross-cultural interaction research can make us have some new thinking about many popular cultural forms at present, and broaden our vision and thinking.

VL  - 12
IS  - 5
ER  -

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