Chinese Television in the Twenty-First Century

Ruoyun Bai, Geng Song

"Television is arguably the most influential medium in contemporary China. Although television networks are still state-owned and Party-controlled in China, the ideological landscape of television programs has become increasingly diverse and even paradoxical, simultaneously subservient and defiant, nationalistic and cosmopolitan, moralistic and fun-loving, extravagant and mundane. Studying Chinese television as a key node in the network of power relationships, therefore, provides us with a unique opportunity to understand the tension-fraught, paradox-permeated, and highly unpredictable conditions of Chinese post-socialism. This book argues for a rethinking of Chinese television and a re-conceptualization of entertainment as a fluid landscape. Specifically, the book addresses the following questions. How is entertainment television politically and culturally significant in the Chinese...