(Re)appropriating the oriental stereotype in Sopyonje and farewell my concubine

In this paper, I am concerned with the self-representation of the female body in the mould of the Oriental stereotype in the films: Sopyonje (Im Kwon-taek 1993) and Farewell My Concubine (Chen Kaige 1993). Widely recognized as quintessential productions of their respective national cinemas, ie., Sou...

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Main Author: Han, Natalie Su-Yin
Other Authors: School of Humanities and Social Sciences
Format: Final Year Project
Language:English
Published: 2014
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Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10356/61623
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Institution: Nanyang Technological University
Language: English
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spelling sg-ntu-dr.10356-616232019-12-10T11:33:50Z (Re)appropriating the oriental stereotype in Sopyonje and farewell my concubine Han, Natalie Su-Yin School of Humanities and Social Sciences Lee, Hyunjung DRNTU::Humanities DRNTU::Social sciences In this paper, I am concerned with the self-representation of the female body in the mould of the Oriental stereotype in the films: Sopyonje (Im Kwon-taek 1993) and Farewell My Concubine (Chen Kaige 1993). Widely recognized as quintessential productions of their respective national cinemas, ie., South Korea and Mainland China, both films have gained notable acclamation in both the domestic and international arena. The transnational appeal of films then offers an avenue for the reclamation of national pride and the reassertion of national identity. Sheldon Hsiao describes the intricate relationship between nationalism and film by pointing out that the “life and death struggle” of national cinema “is isomorphic with the plight of the […] nation-state in the 20th Century” (4). It is on this premise that I find the self-orientalizing tendencies in both Sopyonje and Farewell My Concubine unsettling since they seem to merely “produce and consume the same kind of essentialized images of what is presumed to be their own heritage” by the West (Leshkowich, Jones 285). This is particularly pertinent when considering the transnational ambition of these films since these seem to work against their political intents. Whilst numerous academics have pointed out this trend of self-orientalization as an injudicious internalization of the very concept that subjugates them, I think this phenomenon demands closer analysis, both of the directors and the audiences’ impetus for engaging in what otherwise appears to be a demeaning trend, and of the broader symbolic implications. Hence in this paper, I seek to advance the idea that the varying incorporations of Oriental stereotypes, particularly that of the Oriental female stereotype, invoking rather than evading their theatrical powers, paradoxically act as a means of challenging them in these two films. Bachelor of Arts 2014-06-25T02:22:11Z 2014-06-25T02:22:11Z 2014 2014 Final Year Project (FYP) http://hdl.handle.net/10356/61623 en 35 p. application/pdf
institution Nanyang Technological University
building NTU Library
country Singapore
collection DR-NTU
language English
topic DRNTU::Humanities
DRNTU::Social sciences
spellingShingle DRNTU::Humanities
DRNTU::Social sciences
Han, Natalie Su-Yin
(Re)appropriating the oriental stereotype in Sopyonje and farewell my concubine
description In this paper, I am concerned with the self-representation of the female body in the mould of the Oriental stereotype in the films: Sopyonje (Im Kwon-taek 1993) and Farewell My Concubine (Chen Kaige 1993). Widely recognized as quintessential productions of their respective national cinemas, ie., South Korea and Mainland China, both films have gained notable acclamation in both the domestic and international arena. The transnational appeal of films then offers an avenue for the reclamation of national pride and the reassertion of national identity. Sheldon Hsiao describes the intricate relationship between nationalism and film by pointing out that the “life and death struggle” of national cinema “is isomorphic with the plight of the […] nation-state in the 20th Century” (4). It is on this premise that I find the self-orientalizing tendencies in both Sopyonje and Farewell My Concubine unsettling since they seem to merely “produce and consume the same kind of essentialized images of what is presumed to be their own heritage” by the West (Leshkowich, Jones 285). This is particularly pertinent when considering the transnational ambition of these films since these seem to work against their political intents. Whilst numerous academics have pointed out this trend of self-orientalization as an injudicious internalization of the very concept that subjugates them, I think this phenomenon demands closer analysis, both of the directors and the audiences’ impetus for engaging in what otherwise appears to be a demeaning trend, and of the broader symbolic implications. Hence in this paper, I seek to advance the idea that the varying incorporations of Oriental stereotypes, particularly that of the Oriental female stereotype, invoking rather than evading their theatrical powers, paradoxically act as a means of challenging them in these two films.
author2 School of Humanities and Social Sciences
author_facet School of Humanities and Social Sciences
Han, Natalie Su-Yin
format Final Year Project
author Han, Natalie Su-Yin
author_sort Han, Natalie Su-Yin
title (Re)appropriating the oriental stereotype in Sopyonje and farewell my concubine
title_short (Re)appropriating the oriental stereotype in Sopyonje and farewell my concubine
title_full (Re)appropriating the oriental stereotype in Sopyonje and farewell my concubine
title_fullStr (Re)appropriating the oriental stereotype in Sopyonje and farewell my concubine
title_full_unstemmed (Re)appropriating the oriental stereotype in Sopyonje and farewell my concubine
title_sort (re)appropriating the oriental stereotype in sopyonje and farewell my concubine
publishDate 2014
url http://hdl.handle.net/10356/61623
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