TV China

Ying Zhu (Edited by), Christopher Berry (Edited by)

9780253220264

Paperback / softback, published 28 January 2009

272 pages, 8 b&w photos, 4 figures
23.5 x 15.6 x 2 cm, 0.454 kg

"Zhu (CUNY, Staten Island) and Berry (Goldsmiths College, Univ. of London, UK) pull together 12 disparate papers on television in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and the diaspora. Offering broad perspectives on television practice, circulation, and consumption, the book is structured around four large issues: institutional factors, e.g., political economics, government policy and censorship, trade protection, and corporate policy; programming, especially Shanghai's Documentary Channel, a Taiwanese drama serial, and a popular New Year's Eve variety show; reception, including cultural impacts and viewership patterns; and globalism. The book's content certainly helps to fill in cracks and crannies of Chinese television studies, for which readers will be thankful. . . -CHOICE"—J. A. Lent, Temple University, July 2009
"[This] volume has succeeded in filling a number of gaps, most notably in bringing together within one volume various approaches to the study of Chinese television as a cultural phenomenon that is at once national, transnational, and diasporic. It is a welcome addition to the field, and students and researchers of Chinese media, culture and society, as well as television studies academics in general, should find the book a very useful reference.199 Sept. 2009"—Wanning Sun, China Quarterly
"TV China provides us with a timely and comprehensive compilation of writings on Chinese television. By presenting the regional dynamics of Chinese television production and reception, Ying Zhu and Chris Berry provide a broad canvas enriched by contemporary media theory. . . . In summary, this is a fine collection, and will become a benchmark for students and researchers of Chinese media. No. 63, Jan. 2010"—The China Journal
"Zhu and Berry have succeeded in fulfilling their objective of offering 'balanced coverage' of the topic of Chinese television. Culturally and geographically, this anthology covers mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and the Chinese diaspora. Four key research areas demarcate its distinct thematic sections: institutions, programming, reception, and 'going global'.32.2 2012"—HIST JRNL FILM RADIO & TV
". . . The book's content certainly helps to fill in cracks and crannies of Chinese television studies, for which readers will be thankful . . . July 2009"—Choice
"TV China is a very welcome addition to the limited number of major works dedicated to this topic. To varying degrees and adopting diverse approaches, individual contributors have updated and expanded our current knowledge of Chinese television...the volume has succeeded in filling a number of gaps, most notably in bringing together within one volume various approaches to the study of Chinese television as a cultural phenomenon that is at once national, transnational and diasporic. It is a welcome addition to the field, and students and researchers of Chinese media, culture and society, as well as television studies academics in general, should find the book a very useful reference.Sept. 2009"—Wanning Sun, China Quarterly
"Fills an important gap in both Chinese studies and media studies."—Lisa Rofel, University of California, Santa Cruz
"There is nothing currently comparable in English, and quite possibly in any language."—John Downing, Southern Illinois University

If radio and film were the emblematic media of the Maoist era, television has rapidly established itself as the medium of the "marketized" China and in the diaspora. In less than two decades, television has become the dominant medium across the Chinese cultural world. TV China is the first anthology in English on this phenomenon. Covering the People's Republic, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and the Chinese diaspora, these 12 original essays introduce and analyze the Chinese television industry, its programming, the policies shaping it, and its audiences.

Contents
IntroductionYing Zhu and Chris Berry
Part 1. Institution
1. Toward Television Regionalization in Greater China and BeyondJoseph M. Chan
2. CCTV in the Reform Years: A New Model for China's Television?Junhao Hong, Yanmei Lü, and William Zou
3. Hong Kong Television: Same as It Ever Was?Karin Gwinn Wilkins
Part 2. Programming
4. Shanghai Television's Documentary Channel: Chinese Television as Public SpaceChris Berry
5. Made in Taiwan: An Analysis of Meteor Garden as an East Asian Idol DramaHsiu-Chuang Deppman
6. Ritual, Television, and State Ideology: Rereading CCTV's 2006 Spring Festival GalaXinyu Lu
Part 3. Reception
7. Mediation Journalism in Chinese Television: Double-Time Narrations of SARSHaiqing Yu
8. Building a Chinese "Middle Class": Consumer Education and Identity Construction in Television LandJanice Hua Xu
9. Chinese Television Audience ResearchTongdao Zhang
Part 4. Going Global
10. Hong Kong Television and the Making of New Diasporic ImaginariesAmy Lee
11. Globalizing Television: Chinese Satellite Television outside Greater ChinaCindy Hing-Yuk Wong
12. Transnational Circulation of Chinese-Language Television DramasYing Zhu
Appendix: Relevant Milestone Events in the Development of Chinese Television
List of Contributors
Index