Chinese TV Drama Research Articles

Positioning gender in time-travel: time-travel TV dramas as dialogic resources for constructing and re-imagining identity among Mainland Chinese postgraduates in Hong Kong

ABSTRACT Time-travel television dramas have recently gained tremendous popularity worldwide. Defying stereotypes of romance TV dramas as women’s genres, time-travel romance TV drama genres seem to have attracted young men and women of different walks of life. Informed by positioning theory and Bakhtin’s heteroglossic dialogism, this study investigates a group of bilingual Mainland Chinese, heterosexual postgraduate students’ consumption of a Chinese time-travel TV drama, Scarlet Heart. It is found that well-educated Mainland Chinese women and men are still confronted with dilemmas of gender role boundaries and pressure to subscribe to traditional gender values. However, the time-travel TV drama has enabled the interviewees to negotiate new gender relations when they assign different positions to the female protagonist and themselves in the discussion. It is therefore proposed that time-travel TV dramas can be appropriated as dialogic resources for ideological becoming and critical literacy activities for facilitating construction of alternative subject positions and identities.

A Study on the People's Character of Chinese TV Drama in the New Era

With the arrival of the new era, the creation of TV dramas should keep up with the pace of the times, and fully reflect the expression of the people's character based on the creative concept of putting the people at the center under the premise of the needs of the times. As a mainstream media, television stations should adhere to the principle of people-orientation when creating television literature and art. It is not only a basic principle that local broadcasting and television stations need to follow, but also a mission and responsibility that the media needs to undertake. Therefore, TV drama directors should actively create TV dramas that are truly close to the masses, society, and life, fully reflecting the influence of a "cultural power".

An Analysis of The Cultural Connotation of The Invisible Female Characters in Chinese Costume TV Dramas

An Analysis of The Cultural Connotation of The Invisible Female Characters in Chinese Costume TV Dramas

Analyzing the Popularity of Chinese TV Dramas in Vietnam from a Cross-Cultural Perspective

Chinese dramas have been brought into Vietnam since the 1990s, and then eventually began to gain popularity in the country. From the perspective of cultural studies, cultural difference is the reason for the lack of popularity of Western dramas in Vietnam. However, the popularity of Chinese dramas in the country is an indication of the phenomenon of “culture proximity”. The land of Vietnam and China is connected. Both the countries have over thousand years of history linkage including the similar origin of cultures, geographic features, norms and values as well as heritage. Hence, the intimacy that the Chinese dramas have bought stirs up the interests of the Vietnam audiences. Many Chinese dramas have been arranged to be shown during the “golden hours” by Vietnamese televisions stations and profoundly embraced by the local audiences. Therefore, the Vietnamese market has nurtured a huge number of loyal Chinese dramas fans.

The Aesthetics of Truth and Ecology: The World of Realistic Television Dramas

In the continuous dream-building process of China, the public has a broader interpretation of the concept ofhome and family wrapped around their daily lives. Family in their daily lives carries the love and care among individuals under the social attributes, while the unity of the country gives the public a firm foundation for life under the undertones of the growing scientific construction. Throughout the past two years, popular Chinese TV dramas, such as Age of Awakening, Ren Shi Jian, and Mountains and the Sea, have revealed the transformation in China’s development under the common terminology of multi-dimensional performance, which embodied the country and family under the great historical changes and reform of the country. This paper takes human behavior as the main perspective and expands the research on the common construction of family and nation based on aesthetics. Real aesthetics advocate through the real-life encounters of ordinary people to reflect contemporary social phenomena. This can stimulate social identity in audiences with the constructed ecology aesthetics by the community.

The Influencing Mechanism and Motivation of the Bystander on the Choice of Chinese Address Forms.

Chinese address terms exhibits a high degree of variability. Guided by the extended context of situation framework within the field of systemic functional linguistics, and taking the dialogues of the modern Chinese TV drama In the Name of People as examples, this study investigated how the bystander influences the choice of address terms. It is found that the appearance of the bystander influences the choice of address terms. Yet, it is not a direct process but is mediated by conversational atmosphere. Specifically, the presence of a bystander triggers "situational synergy" or changes interpersonal relationship, and then change the conversational atmosphere, both paths ultimately impact the choice of address terms. The underlying forces that lead to the variability of Chinese address terms are guān běn wèi and miàn zǐ. This study suggests the intricate impact of context on language choice, as well as the interdependency of context variables. In addition, by taking the concept of face beyond its European/North American milieu, and relocating it following the Chinese point of view, group orientation is valued, which contributes to face study.

An Exploration of the Artistic Image of Female Characters in Chinese Independent Female-Oriented TV Series

This paper studies the artistic image of female characters in Chinese independent female-themed TV dramas, mainly exploring whether the female characters in such themed TV dramas are diversified and full, whether they have certain values, and whether they are fully embodied in the image of women. Through this analysis, it can be observed that the changes in the social perception and expectation of female characters, and thus understand the trend of social and cultural evolution. Independent female-themed TV dramas often focus on women’s independence and autonomy in family, workplace and society, etc. The study of these character images can reveal the status and role of women in contemporary society. Based on this in-depth exploration by analyzing the three dimensions of role diversity, depth and complexity, and influence, to find the common points and the problems of the current Chinese independent female TV dramas, as well as the root causes of the audience’s praise, criticism, or dismissal of such dramas, which are the demands of the women in their lives for their lives, careers, marriages, personal values, and families. By interpreting the results, it promotes the advancement of Chinese themed TV dramas as well as social concepts.

Translating the pet man: the “milky puppy” imaginary and neoliberal subjectivity

ABSTRACT The term “milky puppy” (xiao naigou) gained popularity as a slang term in Chinese cyberspace since 2017, symbolizing a young, endearing, and adorable male figure, much like the perception of a puppy. This phenomenon, influenced by Hallyu 4.0 and the toshishita romantic motif prevalent in Japanese and Korean popular cultures, has led to the emergence of an “older woman-younger man” relationship pattern as a new trend in Chinese digital entertainment, particularly TV dramas. In this context, the younger, “pet” boyfriend is commonly referred to as a “milky puppy.” This article investigates the transnational flow and cultural translation of the Pet Man imaginary in East Asia, arguing that the bodily rhetoric of “milky puppy” signifies a Chinese variant of moe culture and represents the commodification of the male body. The article presents critical analyses of two recent Chinese TV dramas within this romantic subgenre, Find Yourself and The Rational Life, and compares them to the South Korean drama Something in the Rain. Through this comparative study, the article aims to identify distinctive Chinese characteristics in the portrayal of pet man masculinity in these dramas. By engaging with feminist and governmentality theories, the study explores how gender dynamics in these dramas negotiate between neoliberal subjectivity and the resilience of patriarchal gender norms in postsocialist China.

Interpreting Women in Historical Dramas from a Feminist Perspective

Since Chinese TV dramas have been in full swing, women have been playing an increasingly important role in TV dramas, echoing the contemporary social theme of feminism, such as the transformation of roles from housewife to strong woman. For example, from housewives to career women, women have their own unique artistic images in TV dramas. Contemporary TV dramas allow us to see the image of women in different periods of China, especially in historical TV dramas, where the way of womens survival and development is more meaningful to explore in the context of patriarchal and male-centered society and the ancient idea of balance, and the female roles in them are diverse, such as in Qing Ping Lue and The Story of Minglan, which are going to be explored in this paper. This paper will translate the language of female characters in TV dramas into modern feminism through specific cases, analyze its commonalities with modern new womens consciousness, and explain the reasons and processes of its development. At the same time, it will promote the dissemination of feminism in our daily life and raise its status by giving feasible solutions to specific cases.

Displaying emotion via dynamic use of address terms in Chinese family conflict talk

This paper investigates the dynamic use of address terms in accordance with the emotional state of the speaker. Analyses of data from three Chinese TV dramas about family life revealed that Chinese family conflict talk was characterised by a predominant use of full name and kinship term address. Moreover, two distinct patterns emerged regarding the use of address terms across the three conflict phases: A. (familiarised) given name/kinship term/no address – full name – full name/no address, and B. (familiarised) given name/kinship term/no address – (familiarised) given name/kinship term – (familiarised) given name/kinship term/no address. Further analysis demonstrated that this dynamic use of address terms was associated with the emotional state of the speaker. This study contributes to research on family life by shedding light on the ways in which participants use address terms dynamically in conflictual settings and at the same time on the ways in which address terms are embedded in such potentially aggravating and emotionally charged social actions.

Reframing queer pop through media paratexts: translation of Chinese TV drama World of Honor in cyberspace

ABSTRACT World of Honor, a danmei-adapted Chinese TV drama, was one of the most-watched TV series in China in 2021. Conceptualizing translation as a rewriting practice, based on a theoretical framework drawn from paratext studies and media studies, this article investigates how audience-created paratexts reframe queer pop in the translation of World of Honor in cyberspace. The research shows that comments and fanvids, as audience-created paratexts on YouTube, serve to render the implicit male-male romance between the two main characters in the TV drama more explicit in the streaming media. The comments help to interpret the homoerotic subtexts in the translation of subtitles and bridge cultural gaps for international audiences, while fanvids direct the storyline towards a danmei theme with the interplay of music and televisual footage. These media paratexts provide a communal space for audiences to interpret, communicate and participate, and enhance our understanding of danmei subculture within online communications.

全媒体视域下对中国电视剧产业发展探索

The rapid development of the Internet and information technology has gradually expanded the scope and degree of media integration. The TV drama industry not only has a popular form of artistic expression but also has the characteristics of the economic value of art commodities. The industry has become an important part of the cultural industry. The TV drama industry is a collection of cultural and artistic value and commercial value, and it is also an artistic expression of human social ideology.In the various forms of the global TV drama market, the market share of the Chinese TV drama industry is still in the development stage to be developed.This study takes the current situation of the development of the Chinese TV drama industry chain structure under the perspective of all media as the starting point and explores the path of improving the TV drama industry from multiple dimensions, such as the upstream, midstream, and downstream integration of the industry chain.Through viewing the current situation of the development of the TV drama industry in both countries, the development process of the TV drama industry in China and Korea in the context of omnimedia, and accurately analyze the transformation of the industrial structure brought about by the integration of the TV drama industry can be easily seen. We also summarize the pioneering significance of the integrated development of the omnimedia industry in the research process, intending to bring new inspiration to the future development of the Chinese TV drama industry.

A Study on the Effects of Koreans’ Motives to Watch Chinese TV Dramas on China’s National Image and Satisfaction : Focusing on the Mediating Effect of Cultural Proximity

본 연구에서는 한국 내 중국 드라마가 인기를 얻게 되면서 발생한 한국에서도 중국 드라마 유행이 하나의 문화로 자리 잡을 수 있도록 한국인의 중국 드라마 시청을 기반으로 연구하였다. 최근 한국 시청자들 사이에서 중국 드라마가 유행하기 시작하였고, OTT 플랫폼을 통해 본격적으로 중국 드라마가 한국에 유입되기 시작한 시점에 적합한 연구라고 볼 수 있다. 따라서 한국인이 중국 드라마를 시청하는 동기와 중국 드라마 만족도, 국가 이미지(호감), 문화 근접성 간의 영향 관계를 통하여 한국인이 중국 드라마를 선호하게 된 동기를 파악하고, 이를 기반으로 중국 드라마의 흥행이 지속되기 위한 방안을 실증적으로 분석하는 데 목적을 두었다. 이를 위하여 본 연구에서는 문헌 연구와 실증 분석을 실시하였고, 중국 드라마를 시청한 경험이 있는 한국인을 대상으로 설문 조사를 하였다. 분석 결과 TV 드라마 시청 동기 중 문화 근접성에 유의한 영향을 미치는 것은 친밀감, 스타 동경 및 캐릭터 선호, 적극적 관심 및 편리성, 중국 배우/문화 학습인 것으로 나타났다. 또한, TV 드라마 시청 동기 중 중국 국가 이미지에 유의한 영향을 미치는 것은 친밀감, 스타 동경 및 캐릭터 선호, 중국 드라마 매료, 중국 배우/문화 학습인 것으로 나타났으며, TV 드라마 시청 동기 중 시청 만족도에 유의한 영향을 미치는 것은 친밀감, 스타 동경 및 캐릭터 선호, 중국 배우/문화 학습이라는 결과를 도출하였다. 이러한 결과를 바탕으로 향후에는 한국 드라마 시장에서의 중국 드라마의 지위와 향후 발전 방향 등에 대한 연구로 확대함으로써 중국 드라마에 대한 수요 향상 및 이를 통한 국가 이미지 향상을 도모할 수 있을 것으로 기대한다.

Stay-at-home Fathers in Contemporary Chinese TV Dramas

Stay-at-home fathers (SAHFs), as an emergent gendered identity, have recently featured in several family TV dramas in China. This article investigates the discourse of masculinity embodied by SAHFs in TV dramas, to provide a new perspective to academic debates about the cultural production of gender and hierarchy in contemporary China. In particular, it examines representations of SAHFs and their familial relationships in three popular TV programmes—Marriage Battle (Hunyin baoweizhan 婚姻保卫战, 2010), A Little Reunion (Xiao huanxi 小欢喜, 2019), and Super Dad and Super Kids (Xiong ba xiong haizi 熊爸熊孩子, 2017). Through the analysis of these three series, I identify a paradox in the televisual representations of SAHFs, that while the male characters all seemingly embody a new model of familial masculinity, namely a caring and sensitive figure, they still cling to patriarchal ideologies when negotiating family matters. My discussion of the paradoxical representations of SAHFs in the series offers an illustration of how patriarchal ideologies are sustained despite the ongoing renegotiation of gender roles within the Chinese family.

Research on the Cross-cultural Communication of Chinese TV Dramas Based on Social Media

Research on the Cross-cultural Communication of Chinese TV Dramas Based on Social Media

The Application of Traditional Chinese Cultural Elements in Fantasy Costume Drama - A Case Study of “Love Between Fairy and Devil”

The spread of Chinese TV dramas cannot be separated from the strong underpinnings of Chinese stories. Strengthening the multifaceted presentation of traditional culture is an indispensable element in creating quality TV dramas with culture, connotation and Chinese characteristics. With a unique oriental narrative and a unique oriental romantic audio-visual language, the fantasy ancient idol drama “Love Between Fairy and Devil” restores a beautiful oriental fantasy world, which helps to reshape the audience’s visual imagination of Chinese classical mythology, conveys the unique charm of Chinese traditional culture to the audience, and promotes the further “going out” of traditional culture.

Exploring How Chinese TV Dramas Reach Global Audiences via Viki in the Transnational Flow of TV Content

Abstract Since 2014, more and more Chinese dramas have been streamed on international platforms such as YouTube, Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Hulu, as well as on regional ones such as Viu, Naver, etc. Among those sites, Viki, with its special affordance features, has become a major platform for Chinese TV dramas to reach a global audience. The presence of Chinese TV dramas on Viki is a successful case of contra-flow of media products propelled by political, economic, technological and cultural factors. Based on the political economy and platform affordance theory, this paper explores why and how Chinese TV dramas offer new ways of presenting audiovisual content. It starts by laying out the political-economic context of the globalization of Chinese TV dramas and then focuses on how Viki has become a streaming hub. It examines the motivations of TV drama producers and distributors in the distribution of Viki and investigates the role of Viki from its specific platform affordances. The principal data sources of this study are market reports, news, and online observation. They show the internationalization process of Chinese TV dramas on Viki. The findings of this study share insights into how Chinese TV dramas as a kind of cultural product become internationalized in the platformization age of video-streaming and what the contra-flow of entertainment content implicates.

Semiotic analysis of Chinese export online TV dramas based on the Fiske’s TV culture theory

The Belt and Road have changed the Chinese TV drama export industry. The export volume has climbed significantly, but China's TV series trade gap is still considerable due to external solid competition in the global cultural products market. The barbarous development under the capital has caused China's TV drama output surplus, and the domestic market cannot absorb it. Internal and external forces force Chinese TV dramas worldwide, and to travel overseas, the material must be optimized to attract foreign audiences. China's TV drama industry is growing online. Its versatility in making and transmitting has made it the leading exporter of Chinese TV programs. This study employs Fiske's TV culture theory and semiotic methodologies to analyze Chinese internet dramas transferred to Malaysia. Chinese web plays' narrative structure. This study uses semiotic analysis and Fiske's TV culture theory to describe Chinese online TV dramas. Export TV dramas must improve their quality and attract new fans to boost their market position in Malaysia. The Chinese export TV business must consider public sentiment to improve its market position and competitiveness. Fiske's TV Culture theory boosts China's film industry's competitiveness. Evaluating the findings in the conclusion and recommendation chapters helped meet the objective.

Fruitless Search for Coherence: A Transcultural Perspective on Netflix’s Adaptation of Empresses in the Palace

ABSTRACT Structuralist narratology, which has played an instrumental part in the historical development of adaptation studies, now faces increasing criticism from culturally oriented scholars for its disregard of contextual factors. My essay argues that postclassical developments of narratology, which recognize culture as a powerful shaping force of narrative form, can effectively address the enduring bifurcation between formal and cultural approaches in adaptation studies. It uses the transpacific adaptation of a Chinese TV drama, renamed Empresses in the Palace by its Netflix adapters, as a case study to show how some of the important narrative transmutations are both motivated by and symptomatic of clashes between specific aspects of the Chinese and the American cultures. My discussion demonstrates that transcultural comparisons can not only foster understanding of adaptations as cultural encounters with inevitable narrative consequences, but also open up new space for the appreciation of other cultures, and provide fresh perspectives on one’s own cultural and narrative traditions.

The “Little Third”: Changing Images of Women Characters Involved in Extramarital Affairs on Chinese TV

AbstractFor this study, we analyzed the changing images of women characters involved in extramarital affairs in three Chinese TV dramas—Come and Go (CG; Hubei TV & Guangxi TV, 1998), Dwelling Narrowness (DN; Beijing TV & Dragon TV, 2009), and Nothing but Thirty (NT; Dongfang TV & Tencent Video, 2020). We argue here that shifting gender relationships, evolving political, economic, and technological conditions relating to the media industry, and a transition in the broader social environment have motivated a return to patriarchal moral discourse on Chinese TV. Specifically, in keeping with this discourse, extramarital affairs have come to be presented as immoral, primarily for the women involved—the “little third” of the title, this being the literal translation of the Mandarin term for “mistress.” We documented this return to patriarchal moral doctrines that are intended to discipline women and limit the diversity and nuance of culturally accepted forms and expressions of sexual attraction and romance on Chinese TV in case studies of the three programs.