Visual Political Communication in Popular Chinese Television Series

Biographical note Readership Table of contents

Publication Type:

Book

Pages, Illustrations:

xii, 296 pp.

Imprint:

BRILL

Language:

English

Biographical note

Florian Schneider, Ph.D. (2009), University of Sheffield, is Lecturer for the Politics of Modern China at the Leiden University Institute of Area Studies. His research focuses on political communication and mass media in contemporary China.

Readership

All those interested in political communication in the People's Republic of China, particularly the political relevance of contemporary Chinese popular entertainment and visual discourse.

Acknowledgements

1. Introduction: Cultural Governance and Chinese TV Drama Series
Chinese TV content between liberalisation and control
Regulating TV content to regulate Chinese society – an issue of cultural governance
Researching popular TV series – a semiotic approach to visual discourse
Structure of this book

PART 1: Political Discourse in Popular TV Series

2. The State and its Officials in TV Dramas
Emperor Wu – the benevolent ruler
The Commissioner and his superior - devoted CCP officials and government leaders
Professional bureaucrats and effective state administration

3. Securing the State: Law Enforcement and Military Action
Human trafficking and loitering: public security as comical plot complication
Strong men and their war against crime
Securing the homeland through warfare

4. Justifying the State: Political Legitimacy and Accountability
Wholeheartedly serving the people
The perfect hero and model worker
The masses are watching
Constructing the general public

PART 2: The Factors of Discourse Production

5. Creating the Political Discourses of TV Dramas
Chinese production companies
Risks and moral hazards in China’s drama market
Investors and their motives
Creatives at work – planning and producing a TV drama series
Selling the drama – marketing and distribution in the Chinese TV drama market
The Buyers: TV Stations and their motives
The forces of production

6. The Chinese Television Drama Audience
Constructing the audience: the Chinese audience measurement system
Finding an audience: who watches TV dramas in China?
Addressing the audience: broadcasting conventions and viewing habits
Likes and dislikes: the genres that audiences watch
TV as a public sphere? The role of audience feedback

7. Government Regulations and Censorship Mechanisms
Effectiveness of media governing mechanisms
State institutions involved in television censorship
The Party’s propaganda system
Legal and administrative censorship tools
Money rules – the financial side of censorship
Anacondas in chandeliers – uncertainty as a governance mechanism
A new snake nesting in the chandelier? The power of persuasion

8. Chinese Perceptions of Television’s Function and Influence
Media content’s impact on viewers
Possible effects of harmful content
Risk groups
Justifications of censorship and government control in China
Putting censorship advocacy into perspective
The didactical functions of TV
Making successful dramas
The psychological and social relevance of TV drama

9. Conclusion: Chinese TV Discourses and the Factors of their Production
Homogeneity in drama discourses and the didactics of TV entertainment
Visuality, emotions, and the construction of imagined community
The ruptures in TV drama discourses
The factors of drama production
The effectiveness of cultural governance

Glossary of Technical Terms

Bibliography

Appendix
Appendix 1a: Methodological notes – analysing TV drama content
Appendix 1b: Methodological notes – interview analysis
Appendix 2: Central Members of the Production Team and their Functions
Appendix 3: Directors
Appendix 4: Positive Viewer Feedback as Presented by CUC researchers
Appendix 5: Negative Viewer Feedback as Presented by CUC researchers
Appendix 6: Main Functions of the SARFT (国家广电总局主要职能)
Appendix 7: SARFT Organisational Structure and Main Jurisdictions
Appendix 8: 2004 SARFT Censorship Regulation Decree No.40

Index

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