St Andrews Research Repository

St Andrews University Home
View Item 
  •   St Andrews Research Repository
  • Philosophical, Anthropological & Film Studies (School of)
  • Film Studies
  • Film Studies Theses
  • View Item
  •   St Andrews Research Repository
  • Philosophical, Anthropological & Film Studies (School of)
  • Film Studies
  • Film Studies Theses
  • View Item
  •   St Andrews Research Repository
  • Philosophical, Anthropological & Film Studies (School of)
  • Film Studies
  • Film Studies Theses
  • View Item
  • Login
JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

Nostalgia and Chinese new waves

View/Open
Thesis-Quan-LIU-complete-version.pdf (26.87Mb)
Thesis-Quan-LIU-complete-version.docx (18.31Mb)
Date
20/05/2022
Author
Liu, Quan
Supervisor
Flaig, Paul
Parks, Tyler Munroe
Funder
China Scholarship Council (CSC)
University of St Andrews
Grant ID
201708060002
Keywords
Nostalgia
Fifth Generation
Taiwan New Cinema
Hong Kong New Wave
Chinese cinemas
Metadata
Show full item record
Altmetrics Handle Statistics
Altmetrics DOI Statistics
Abstract
This study considers the underexplored uses of nostalgia by filmmakers from the Chinese New Waves. Over the last few decades, Svetlana Boym, Paul Grainge, and many other scholars have argued that nostalgia can be exploited to interweave imagination, longing, and memory in negotiating problems of identity, politics, and history in various communities. However, their arguments have largely been developed through considerations of European and American contexts. This project enters the critical field with a focused investigation into the uses that nostalgia has been put to by Chinese filmmakers. It follows a case-study design, with in-depth analysis of four emblematic films made by leading filmmakers of the Fifth Generation, the Taiwan New Cinema, and the Hong Kong New Wave. It argues that these filmmakers have used distinctive strategies to exploit nostalgia in their recreations of the past, often in order to reflect critically on significant social dilemmas in their filmmaking contexts. On this basis, this study demonstrates that dismissing the nostalgia put to use by these filmmakers risks occluding crucial dimensions of the critical reflections and aesthetic complexity of the Chinese New Waves. Ultimately, it demonstrates that nostalgia can be very “useful” despite its “inauthentic” representations of the past, thereby helping to challenge the perennial dismissal of nostalgia as a corrosive presence in contemporary cultural life.
DOI
https://doi.org/10.17630/sta/184
Type
Thesis, PhD Doctor of Philosophy
Rights
Embargo Date: 2027-05-24
Embargo Reason: Thesis restricted in accordance with University regulations. Restricted until 24th May 2027
Collections
  • Film Studies Theses
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/10023/25590

Items in the St Andrews Research Repository are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.

Advanced Search

Browse

All of RepositoryCommunities & CollectionsBy Issue DateNamesTitlesSubjectsClassificationTypeFunderThis CollectionBy Issue DateNamesTitlesSubjectsClassificationTypeFunder

My Account

Login

Open Access

To find out how you can benefit from open access to research, see our library web pages and Open Access blog. For open access help contact: openaccess@st-andrews.ac.uk.

Accessibility

Read our Accessibility statement.

How to submit research papers

The full text of research papers can be submitted to the repository via Pure, the University's research information system. For help see our guide: How to deposit in Pure.

Electronic thesis deposit

Help with deposit.

Repository help

For repository help contact: Digital-Repository@st-andrews.ac.uk.

Give Feedback

Cookie policy

This site may use cookies. Please see Terms and Conditions.

Usage statistics

COUNTER-compliant statistics on downloads from the repository are available from the IRUS-UK Service. Contact us for information.

© University of St Andrews Library

University of St Andrews is a charity registered in Scotland, No SC013532.

  • Facebook
  • Twitter