Contested identities: exploring the cultural, historical and political complexities of the ‘three Chinas’

Li, Qiao and Jennings, Ros ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5852-9420 (2015) Contested identities: exploring the cultural, historical and political complexities of the ‘three Chinas’. IAFOR Journal of Asian Studies, 2 (1).

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Abstract

When facing the political, historical and cultural complexities of Mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, problematic issues arise in relation to understanding the sorts of national/cultural identities that might be projected by them. With regard to these three Chinese language cinemas, a traditional national cinema approach focussing predominantly upon nation-state as a source of meaning would provide only a limited understanding of the meanings generated. This article, however, draws on what Benedict Anderson (1991) put forward as the theory of ‘Imagined Communities’ which assumes a large body of people regard themselves as members of a ‘nation’ (and here we interpret this term broadly and beyond understandings of geographical borders and political systems) through a variety of historical legacies, cultural memories and acts of consumption. In this article we hold the assumption that there is a shared cultural meaning (namely ‘Chineseness’) that extends across the three Chinese language cinemas and consider cultural affinity as greater than national and political boundaries.

Item Type:	Article
Article Type:	Article
Additional Information:	Qiao Li completed a PhD at the University of Gloucestershire supervised by Ros Jennings. Paper translated in Russian: CONTESTED IDENTITIES: EXPLORING THE CULTURAL, HISTORICAL AND POLITICAL COMPLEXITIES OF THE 'THREE CHINAS'. TRANSLATED INTO RUSSIAN BY O. S. YAKUSHENKOVA Li, Qiao; Jennings, Ros Galactica Media-journal Of Media Studies - Galaktika Media-zhurnal Media Issledovanij
Uncontrolled Keywords:	National cinema, Three Chinas, Chineseness, cultural affinity
Subjects:	D History General and Old World > DS Asia
Divisions:	Schools and Research Institutes > School of Arts, Culture and Environment
Research Priority Areas:	Culture, Continuity, and Transformation Creative Practice and Theory
Depositing User:	Ros Jennings
Date Deposited:	24 Feb 2016 14:37
Last Modified:	10 Oct 2025 16:00
URI:	https://eprints.glos.ac.uk/id/eprint/3126

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