Chinese Documentaries: From Dogma to Polyphony

by Chu; Yingchi

• ISBN13: 9780415375702
• ISBN10: 0415375703
• eBook ISBN(s): 9781134186020
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2007-08-03
• Publisher: Routledge
• More Book Details

Summary

In China, unlike in Western cinema, documentary film, rather than fiction film, has been the dominant mode since 1949. In recent years, documentary TV programmes have experienced a meteoric rise. Arguing that there is a gradual process of 'democratization' in the media, in which documentaries play a significant role, this book discusses various types of Chinese documentaries, under both the planned and the market economy. It especially explores the relationship between documentaries and society, showing how, under the market economy, although the government continues to use the genre as propaganda to promote its ideologies and policies, documentaries are being used as a medium where public concerns and alternative voices can be heard.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements	p. viii
Introduction: writing about Chinese documentaries	p. 1
The documentary genre and Chinese documentaries	p. 13
Nationalism and the birth of Chinese documentary	p. 39
The dogmatic formula	p. 53
Media reform, documentary programming and the new citizen	p. 95
Documenting the law	p. 117
Documenting the minorities	p. 148
The many voices of Chinese documentary	p. 183
Conclusion: documentaries as critical discourse	p. 212
Notes	p. 218
Bibliography	p. 223
Filmography	p. 238
Index	p. 251
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