Kristine Harris (New Paltz, SUNY), professeur invitée à l’EHESS

►23 mai 2024

Revolutionary China and Sources for The Red Detachment of Women

Séminaire histoire culturelle du cinéma INHA, 18h-20h, salle Benjamin

https://histcultcine.hypotheses.org/5259

Séance à 18h à l’INHA, Discutante invitée: Anne Kerlan, Directrice de recherche CNRS, UMR Chine Corée Japon– Centre d’études sur la Chine moderne et contemporaine

The Red Detachment of Women remains the most iconic of all the “revolutionary contemporary model works” (geming xiandai yangbanxi) created for stage and screen during China’s Cultural Revolution of 1966-1976, and for more than a half century, the representation of women in the “Modern Chinese Revolutionary Ballet” (geming xiandai wuju), as well as the vaunted role of Jiang Qing (Madame Mao) in the production process, have garnered far-reaching public attention and expert scholarly analysis. But what of the significance of women and gender in the earlier origins and subsequent development of The Red Detachment? This talk examines the early sources for Red Detachment—including oral histories, reportage, and a local opera of Hainan Island—and the changing significance of these women’s stories and images as they were taken up by new authors and reimagined through various media and products for national and international audiences. Along with the well-known 1961 feature film made in Shanghai by melodrama master Xie Jin, as well as the staged versions for Peking Opera and ballet (and the filmed versions of each), we also explore the lianhuanhua comic book and related promotional materials within the broader context of early PRC film, visual culture, and performing arts.

►28 mai

« Lost and Found: The case of Love and Duty (1931) »

Séminaire Chine républicaine, salle A 202

The silent melodrama Love and Duty (1931), long thought to be lost, was found many decades later in a defunct library collection transferred from Uruguay to Taiwan in the 1990s.  Given that so few silent films from the early Republican Era are extant, and so little research has been done on their circulation beyond China, the fact that Love and Duty survived at all through decades of moves across oceans and continents might seem anomalous, even inexplicable, certainly intriguing.  Yet by delving into the origins of Love and Duty and tracking its peregrinations round the world, my research reveals a whole range of unexpected, often overlooked, intersections between the spheres of politics, education, arts, overseas communities, and business that shaped early Chinese cinema.  These findings offer surprising insights into the broader aspirations informing the production and circulation of Chinese silent films and, indeed, the cultural history of modern China.  

►4 juin

Legacies and Afterlives of Cultural Revolution Culture: The Red Detachment of Women

Séminaire interne CRAL

This talk explores the afterlives of The Red Detachment of Women, tracking the metamorphosis of the iconic revolutionary narrative and imagery across a diversity of environments —including international reinterpretations, serials for television, visual art, and popular culture, even a theme park, among other instances. We survey key elements of Cultural Revolution culture that have persisted in surprising contexts over recent decades, often with significant readjustments, and assess what these new iterations might signal about China in the post-Mao era.

►5 juin

Language, Writing, Translation, and Film in Modern China: the life and work of S. Rosen Hoa, a.k.a. Hua Luochen or Horose

Séminaire Recherches en histoire culturelle de la Chine au XXe siècle : trajectoires et récits de vie, 14h30-16h30, salle A 302

The priorities of linguistic and cultural translation at the forefront of the New Culture Movement opened up the possibility of new voices and perspectives on China and the world, especially when embraced by the incipient film industry. This talk approaches the life and works of S. Rosen Hoa (also known as Hua Luochen or Horose), whose Polish origins, French education, marriage to a Chinese engineer, and publications in multiple languages garnered interest and acclaim in 1910s-1930s China. A close examination of her novel Love and Duty—which came out in various formats, versions, and languages—and its adaptation into a feature film in 1931 offers the opportunity to consider questions of authorship, identity, and audience in the publishing and film world of early Republican China.