Final published version
Research output: Contribution in Book/Report/Proceedings - With ISBN/ISSN › Chapter (peer-reviewed) › peer-review
Research output: Contribution in Book/Report/Proceedings - With ISBN/ISSN › Chapter (peer-reviewed) › peer-review
}
TY - CHAP
T1 - When foreigners perform the Chinese nation
T2 - Televised global Chinese language competitions, China and the world
AU - Gorfinkel, Lauren
AU - Chubb, Andrew
PY - 2014/9/15
Y1 - 2014/9/15
N2 - In 1988, Caucasian Canadian Da Shan (aka Mark Rowswell) performed a comedic skit on China Central Television’s New Year’s gala, China’s highest rating television show, watched by an estimated 550 million viewers. Recognized for his fluent Mandarin skills and expert delivery, Da Shan (lit. Big Mountain) quickly become China’s biggest foreign celebrity, frequently appearing on national television and performing the highly skilled comic art of crosstalk (xiangsheng). Since Da Shan’s trailblazing appearance, foreign performances of Chinese language and cultural art forms have become common on China’s small screen. Using a combination of content analysis, informal interviews with producers and directors, as well as our own reflections on our experiences as participants on two televised Chinese language and culture competitions, this chapter investigates the political and discursive patterns underlying these spectacles of foreigners performing Chineseness and reflects on how these shows position China, its culture, and its place in the world.
AB - In 1988, Caucasian Canadian Da Shan (aka Mark Rowswell) performed a comedic skit on China Central Television’s New Year’s gala, China’s highest rating television show, watched by an estimated 550 million viewers. Recognized for his fluent Mandarin skills and expert delivery, Da Shan (lit. Big Mountain) quickly become China’s biggest foreign celebrity, frequently appearing on national television and performing the highly skilled comic art of crosstalk (xiangsheng). Since Da Shan’s trailblazing appearance, foreign performances of Chinese language and cultural art forms have become common on China’s small screen. Using a combination of content analysis, informal interviews with producers and directors, as well as our own reflections on our experiences as participants on two televised Chinese language and culture competitions, this chapter investigates the political and discursive patterns underlying these spectacles of foreigners performing Chineseness and reflects on how these shows position China, its culture, and its place in the world.
U2 - 10.4324/9781315798103
DO - 10.4324/9781315798103
M3 - Chapter (peer-reviewed)
SN - 9780415745123
SN - 9781138091979
SP - 121
EP - 140
BT - Chinese Television in the Twenty-First Century
A2 - Bai, Ruoyun
A2 - Song, Geng
PB - Routledge
CY - London
ER -