Home>Courses>Popular Culture in Contemporary China / Contemporary Chinese Popular Culture

This course investigates the intricate landscape of contemporary Chinese popular culture, examining its evolution and current status through the lens of societal representation, digital media, state influence, and globalization. We will explore themes such as: 1) how different social identities, including gender and national identities, are portrayed in Chinese popular culture; 2) the changing ways of production, distribution, and consumption of popular cultural forms in China, set against the backdrop of the country’s dazzling economic, political, sociocultural, and technological transformations over the past several decades; 3) the strategies of soft power employed through popular culture and the creative responses by Chinese individuals to state control and censorship; and 4) the impact of technological innovation on an array of popular cultural scenes, focusing on how new technologies like interactive media and AI are simultaneously facilitating and constraining the everyday lives of Chinese people, as well as crafting the imaginary of China’s future.

The course will be delivered through a combination of lectures and interactive discussions, enabling students to engage with and critically evaluate various facets of Chinese popular culture. It aims to equip students with a thorough understanding of the complexities and dynamics that characterize popular culture in contemporary China.

WEEK 1 (Sep. 3) The What, Why, and How of Popular Culture in Contemporary China

WEEK 2 (Sep. 10) News, Newspapers and the “Imagined Community”

WEEK 3 (Sep. 17) Television, Dramas, and Gender Politics

WEEK 4 (Sep. 24) Popular Music: Stardom and “Cacophony”
(Form your own research project group)

WEEK 5 (Oct. 1) NO Class, National Day

WEEK 6 (Oct. 8) Soft Power and Cultural Nationalism in the Age of Globalization

WEEK 7 (Oct. 15) Fandom and Participatory Culture: Empowerment or More Exploitation?

WEEK 8 (Oct. 22) Platformization and the Dazzling Influencer Economy
(Group Research Project Proposal Due)

WEEK 9 (Oct. 29) Living a “Second Life”: Gaming and Digital Intimacies

WEEK 10 (Nov. 5) Group Consultation on Your Group Research Project (TBA)

WEEK 11 (Nov. 12) Building the Future with Popular Literature and Course Wrap-Up

WEEK 12 (Nov. 19) Group Research Project Presentations I

WEEK 13 (Nov. 26) Group Research Project Presentations II

Individual reflection due on December 4, 2024

Attendance and Participation                                    15%

Pop Quizzes                                                             20%

Group Research Project and Presentation               40%    

Individual Reflection                                               25%   

Students should submit written assignments to the Veriguide system and print out the Veriguide receipt and scan it into a PDF file before submitting it to the Blackboard. See the website: https://services.veriguide.org/academic/login_CUHK.jspx. Any cases of plagiarism will be severely penalized and reported to the Dean of the Faculty of Arts, which could result in failure or expulsion from the University. http://www.cuhk.edu.hk/policy/academichonesty/.