Subtitling Chinese cinema: a case study of Zhang Yimou’s films

In recent years, more and more Chinese films have been exported abroad. This thesis intends to explore the subtitling of Chinese cinema into English, with Zhang Yimou’s films as a case study. Zhang Yimou is arguably the most critically and internationally acclaimed Chinese filmmaker, who has experimented with a variety of genres of films. I argue that in the subtitling of his films, there is an obvious adoption of the domestication translation strategy that reduces or even omits Chinese cultural references. I try to discover what cultural categories or perspectives of China are prone to the domestication of translation and have formulated five categories: humour, politeness, dialect, history and songs and the Peking Opera. My methodology is that I compare the source Chinese dialogue lines with the existing English subtitles by providing literal translations of the source lines, and I will also give my alternative translations that tend to retain the source cultural references better. I also speculate that the domestication strategy is frequently employed by subtitlers possibly because the subtitlers assume the source cultural references are difficult for target language subtitle readers to comprehend, even if they are translated into a target language. However, subtitle readers are very likely to understand more than what the dialogue lines and the target language subtitles express, because films are multimodal entities and verbal information is not the only source of information for subtitle readers. The image and the sound are also significant sources of information for subtitle readers who are constantly involved in a dynamic film-watching experience. They are also expected to grasp visual and acoustic information. The complete omission or domestication of source cultural references might also affect their interpretation of the non-verbal cues. I also contemplate that the translation, which frequently domesticates the source culture carried out by a translator who is also a native speaker of the source language, is ‘submissive translation’.

Independent cinema in the Chinese film industry

Chinese independent cinema has developed for more than twenty years. Two sorts of independent cinema exist in China. One is underground cinema, which is produced without official approvals and cannot be circulated in China, and the other are the films which are legally produced by small private film companies and circulated in the domestic film market. This sort of ‘within-system’ independent cinema has played a significant role in the development of Chinese cinema in terms of culture, economics and ideology. In contrast to the amount of comment on underground filmmaking in China, the significance of ‘within-system’ independent cinema has been underestimated by most scholars. This thesis is a study of how political management has determined the development of Chinese independent cinema and how Chinese independent cinema has developed during its various historical trajectories. This study takes media economics as the research approach, and its major methods utilise archive analysis and interviews. The thesis begins with a general review of the definition and business of American independent cinema. Then, after a literature review of Chinese independent cinema, it identifies significant gaps in previous studies and reviews issues of traditional definition and suggests a new definition. After several case studies on the changes in the most famous Chinese directors’ careers, the thesis shows that state studios and private film companies are two essential domestic backers for filmmaking in China. After that, the body of the thesis provides an examination of the development of ‘within-system’ independent cinema. Specifically, three factors: government intervention, the majors’ performance (state studios and, later, the conglomerates) and the market conduct of independent cinema at various points in their trajectories are studied. The key findings of the study are as follows: First, most scholars have overlooked the existence and the significance of within-system Chinese independent cinema. Drawing on an American definition of the independent sector, this thesis proposes a definition of the sector in China: namely, any film that has not been financed, produced, and/or distributed by majors. The thesis also notes important contradictions in applying this definition: i.e. film-making is still dependent on policies that frame industry development. The thesis recognises that major tensions apply to filmmaking in China, which significantly differentiates the Chinese independents from those in the US. Second, the development of Chinese independent cinema is the result the rise of the private sector and the decline of the state studio system. As state studios encountered difficulties the private sector moved forward; consequently the environment improved for independent cinema. Third, before 2003, the film industry in China had little commercialisation. The government controlled independent cinema by means of license and censorship. State studios produced main melody films and Hollywood attracted most of the audiences. Many independent filmmakers focused on commercial films, thus contributing to film commercialisation. Fourth, after 2003, the film industry became increasingly fragmented. The government created distribution and exhibition opportunities for main melody films; conglomerates collaborated with Hong Kong players; Hong Kong co-productions and Hollywood occupied the film market; and small private film companies produced main melody films in order to earn meagre profits. The original contribution of the thesis is to advance the study of Chinese independent cinema. The study suggests a reasonable and practical definition of Chinese independent cinema. It shows how the Chinese government authorities have implemented economic measures to gain ideological control in the film industry. Finally, this the first study on Chinese independent cinema applying a synthesis of economic, political and historical perspectives.

[E]scape : anonymat et politique à l'ère de la mobilisation globale: passages chinois pour la communauté qui vient

Le thème de la mobilisation totale est au cœur de la réflexion actuelle sur le renouvellement des modes de subjectivation et des manières d’être-ensemble. En arrière-plan, on trouve la question de la compatibilité entre les processus vitaux humains et la modernité, bref, la question de la viabilité du processus de civilisation occidental. Au cœur du diagnostic: l’insuffisance radicale de la fiction de l’homo oeconomicus, modèle de l’individu privé sans liens sociaux et souffrant d’un déficit de sphère. La « communauté qui vient » (Agamben), la « politisation de l’existence » (Lopez Petit) et la création de « sphères régénérées » (Sloterdijk) nomment autant de tentatives pour penser le dépassement de la forme désormais impropre et insensée de l’individualité. Mais comment réaliser ce dépassement? Ou de manière plus précise : quelle traversée pour amener l’individu privé à opérer ce dépassement? Ce doctorat s’organise autour d’une urgence focale : [E]scape. Ce concept suggère un horizon de fuite immanent : il signe une sortie hors de l’individu privé et trace un plan d’idéalité permettant d’effectuer cette sortie. Concrètement, ce concept commande la production d’une série d’analyses théoriques et artistiques portant sur des penseurs contemporains tels que Foucault, Deleuze ou Sloterdijk, l’album Kid A de Radiohead ainsi que sur le cinéma et l’art contemporain chinois (Jia Zhangke, Wong Kar-Wai, Wong Xiaoshuai, Lou Ye, Shu Yong, Huang Rui, Zhang Huan, Zhu Yu, etc.). Ces analyses sont conçues comme autant de passages ou itinéraires de désubjectivation. Elles posent toutes, d’une manière ou d’une autre, le problème du commun et de l’être-ensemble, sur le seuil des non-lieux du capitalisme global. Ces itinéraires se veulent liminaux, c’est-à-dire qu’ils se constituent comme passages sur la ligne d’un dehors et impliquent une mise en jeu éthopoïétique. Sur le plan conceptuel, ils marquent résolument une distance avec le paradigme de la politique identitaire et la critique des représentations interculturelles.

A new definition for today’s Chinese independent cinema

Different terminologies have been used to characterize the Chinese independent cinema in the 1990s. These definitions focus on the experimental practices outside the official production system and independent of official ideology. The film industry has had distinctive development since the entry of WTO in 2001. Private investors have played essential role in cinematic economy; strict censorship has been obviously relaxed; the film industry is being divided into two opposing extremes. Thus, it is necessary to give a new definition of the Chinese independent cinema. The definition of independent cinema in today China I suggest in the light of American independence is that any film that has not been financed, produced and distributed by majors is independent. At least four corporations are majors in the Chinese film industry. They are China Film Group Corporation, Huayi Brothers Corporation, PolyBona Film Distribution Corporation and Shanghai Film Group Corporation. Except the four majors, all the other film production or distribution companies are independents.

Digital intermediary: Korean transnational cinema

Since censorship was lifted in Korea in 1996, collaboration between Korean and foreign filmmakers has grown in both extent and visibility. Korean films have been shot in Australia, New Zealand and mainland China, while the Korean digital post-production and visual effects firms behind blockbusters infused with local effects have gone on to work with filmmakers from greater China and Hollywood Korean cinema has become known for its universal storylines, genre experimentation and high production values. The number of exported Korean films has increased, as has the number of Korean actors starring in films made in other countries. Korea has hosted major international industry events. These milestones have facilitated an unprecedented international expansion of the Korean film industry. With the advent of the 'digital wave in Korea the film industry's transition to digital production practices this expansion has accelerated Korean film agencies the pillars of the national cinema have played important parts in this internationalisation, particularly in promoting Korean films and filmmakers outside Korea and in facilitating international events in Korea itself Yet, for the most part, projects involving Korean filmmakers working in partnership with filmmakers from other countries are the products of individuals and businesses working outside official channels. That is, they are often better understood as 'transnational rather than 'national' or 'international' projects. In this article, we focus on a range of collaborations involving Korean, Australian, New Zealand and Chinese filmmakers and firms. These collaborations highlight some of the forces that have shaped the digital wave in the Korean film industry, and illustrate the increasingly influential role that the 'digital expertise of Korean filmmakers is playing in film industries, both regionally and around the world.

Applying the Paradigm: Shakespeare and World Cinema

The essay discusses films that have been made of the plays written by dramatist William Shakespeare, particularly films that were made outside of Great Britain and the U.S. The Chinese film "The Banquet," directed by Xiaogang Feng, is a retelling of Shakespeare's play "Hamlet." The film demonstrates how Shakespeare's play could be successfully repositioned to demonstrate problems in 21st century Asia.

An Amorous Prehistory of Hong Kong Queer Cinema

Depiction of homoerotic relationships among women in commercial costumed films was a unique phenomenon in 1970s - 1980s Hong Kong cinema. What are the possible cinematic meanings of lesbian images that we can perceive in these films? How should we evaluate the exact representation of a sexuality that had been perceived as deviant in that society? In this essay, I close-read homoerotic scenes and trace through the trajectories of cultural and industrial changes enabling the emergence of two representative films: Intimate Confessions of A Chinese Courtesan (1972) and An Amorous Woman of Tang Dynasty (1984). I do this with a continuous concern for historical context in order to provide an in-depth understanding of how lesbian images are constructed in cinema.