Peter C. Pugsley

The rise of a 'Me Culture' in postsocialist China: Youth, individualism and identity creation in the blogosphere

China’s ‘Generation Y’ are the first to grow up with computer technology and the Internet. More affluent and better educated than their parents, and often the only child in the family, they consider individuality a highly sought-after quality, which has given rise to a ‘me culture’ primarily concerned with self-expression and identity exhibition. Drawing from a combined content and discourse analysis in conjunction with personal interviews with Chinese Gen Y bloggers, this study seeks to provide a qualitative examination of Chinese youth and their use of personal blogs. It fills a lacuna in current studies that focus largely on blogging in western contexts. The study elucidates how China’s youth use blogs in their own symbolic identity construction and self-presentation based around notions of individualism and consumerism — key features of China’s entry into its postsocialist age — and probes the motivations behind their blogging practices.

Utilizing Satire in Post-Deng Chinese Politics Zhao Benshan Xiaopin vs. the Falun Gong

Although Chinas institutional campaign against the Falun Gong has been closely observed and analyzed, researchers have failed to take note of the subversive power of satire utilized in the comic theatrical skits (xiaopin) of popular comedian Zhao Benshan to ridicule the Falun Gong. This exemplifies the Chinese Communist Partys long-established political practice of “educating the masses.” Based on an analysis of what are now commonly referred to as “Zhao Benshan xiaopin” and their perceived impact on the Falun Gong issue, this article examines how satirical power in post-Deng Chinese politics has been employed, and it outlines the key features of the practice. This article reviews the use of satire as a political weapon in contemporary Chinese politics, before turning to focus on four relevant Zhao Benshan xiaopin and the way in which they create popular metaphors for propagating official views in the anti-Falun Gong campaign.

Singapore FHM: State Values and the Construction of Singaporean Masculinity in a Syndicated Men's Magazine

Abstract Transnational magazines have enjoyed enormous success with readers in Singapore in recent years. But what hurdles are faced by these syndicated magazines as they attempt to enter global markets? This article explores the difficulties of meeting audience demands while obeying strictly monitored rules set down by the state. Drawing from initial research into womens lifestyle magazines, this article turns to mens syndicated lifestyle magazines, in particular the controversial Singapore FHM, the first, and most popular, “lads mag” to enter Singapore. By way of a visual and discourse analysis, this article examines the way the magazine constructs a particular view of masculinity in order to reflect the ideals of the Singaporean male. Despite a change of ownership from the UK-based Emap group to the locally-owned MediaCorp Publishing, few visible changes occurred in the magazine. Fears that the magazines sexually-related content would be toned down with local ownership proved to be unfounded. This article suggests that Singapore FHM has subtly shifted Western notions of masculinity to encompass the new global masculinity of urban, professional, Singaporean males.

Sex and the City-State: A Study of Sexual Discourse in Singaporean Women's Magazines

Singapores print media now presents frank and open discussions of sexuality, signalling what appears to be a liberating overhaul of the strict moral codes that have restricted media content for decades. The intensely competitive magazine market is leading the charge. This paper examines how magazines such as The Singapore Womens Weekly reframe discourses on sexuality to allow them to operate within Singapores tightly controlled media system. Drawing from a Foucauldian approach to discourse and censorship, and broader themes of global capitalism and state rule, this paper contends that despite immense pressures to allow the print media and its wealth-generating advertisers a high degree of autonomy in terms of content, Singapores sexual revolution operates within parameters set by a government keen to strike a balance between maintaining ‘traditional’ moral values and a more pragmatic approach toward sexuality centred, in part, on attempts to promote ‘civic nationalism’ and to arrest the declining birth-rate.

Asserting nationalism in a cosmopolitan world: globalized Indian cultures in Yash Raj Films

Yash Raj Films is one of Indias most successful film production studios with a massive global market. The influence of a powerful Indian diaspora provides film directors from the Bollywood stable of Yash Chopra (Yash Raj Films) with a wealth of international settings. These settings in turn provide a site for an assertive Indian nationalism based upon the adoption of cosmopolitan lifestyles. This paper examines three recent films, Khabi Kushi Khabhie Gham, Khabie Alvida Naa Kehna, and Salaam Namaste!, to see how London, New York, and Melbourne are reconfigured as cities in which Indian émigrés make their mark – they are successful in their careers (mostly) and comfortable in their new surroundings. Such films are suggestive of a new ‘global cinema’ in which the geographical confines of national cinema are being stretched. Drawing on a tripartite thematic framework, we explore the visual geographies, the heightened consumption patterns, and the sense of global cosmopolitanism presented in these films. And while the underlying sentiment is that one always sees ‘home’ (i.e., India) as an idealized paradise, the new cosmopolitanism adopted by Indian émigrés in these films serves to highlight the ease with which Indian nationals can find success in global environments.

Literary text as cross-cultural exchange: The selection of Australian Literature for the Chinese book market

This article explores the “export” of Australian fictional literature to China. It encompasses views from China in which literary products (in the form of “the book”) transgress the line from Australian export to Chinese import. After all, to import or export literary works requires a sophisticated understanding of the target market. The central concern of this article, therefore, is the motivation of Chinese publishers when choosing foreign books for publication for Chinese audiences. Although Australia’s attempts at cross-cultural literary exchange appear to rest on sending novels to China on an ad hoc basis, I argue that the transfer of “acceptable” works is largely dependent on works that have not only been deemed culturally significant, but also carry some likelihood of profitability for all involved. These decisions are a direct result of global influences in publishing markets and the push toward increased autonomy for the Chinese publishing industry. In other words, effective cross-cultural exchange through literary texts rests on the vagaries of the global publishing industry. By examining the selection of titles for publication and the practicalities of translation procedures, this article details the difficulties encountered when introducing foreign literature into the Chinese book market. It draws on in-situ interviews with Chinese editors/publishers involved in the publication of Australian novels, as well as my own observations of the Chinese publishing industry over several years. As an export commodity, any cultural text must overcome the obstacle of entering an established market in which consumers have a strong understanding of their own cultural products, but a limited contextual base with which to understand the foreign commodity. Historically, literary audiences in China have had a restricted political or cultural Asian Studies Review December 2005, Vol. 29, pp. 383–393

Manufacturing the Canon: Australia in the Chinese Literary Imagination

Published as a chapter in: Construction work / Richard Nile, editor, with Denise Tallis, pp.89-103

Taming the Paradox Between Facts and Control: Media Discourses on Natural Disasters in Chinese Media

Using discourse-historical approach, this study examines how the natural disaster information is framed in Chinese media. It presents a cross-section on how the diachronically transforming Chinese culture both produces the paradox concerned with the representation of the facts about the natural disasters and the intentionality to control it as demanded in the discursive power relations. Setting in the framework of discursive power and the control of the meaning production, this study explores the nuanced process whereby disaster information, dominant culture and the social power negotiate in representing the negative facts in natural disaster events. The findings indicate that the paradox between information transparency and the control of it is discursively balanced by closely engaging with cultural resources and finally dissolved in the transformed cultural context in contemporary China.

Tamil talk shows: Maintaining tradition in the new public sphere

The popular Indian television talk show, Neeya? Naana? (You? or Me?), offers a public platform for open discussion of important issues facing citizens in the southern state of Tamil Nadu. Through its inclusive nature and open discussion format, the programme demonstrates the gendered involvement of citizens from all sections of society, including the socially disadvantaged castes and classes. While this suggests that Indian television provides a new site for an emerging public sphere, we contend that the public sphere in India can be historicized to the third millennium BC. In our analysis of Neeya? Naana?, we establish a relationship between Habermasian notions of the public sphere, India’s argumentative tradition and the ancient Sangam literature of South India. We further interrogate the concept of the public sphere by asserting that while India’s television talk shows offer the suggestion of an open democratic forum, they instead reinforce conservative cultural values.

Tradition, culture and aesthetics in contemporary Asian cinema

Contents: Introduction An Asian aesthetic Orientalism and tradition on screen Of auteurs and aesthetes The emerging consciousness of Asia Beyond Asia: the international film festival Conclusion Bibliography Films cited Index.