"Yellow Earth": Western Analysis and a Non-Western Text

Yau, Esther

doi:10.1525/fq.1987.41.2.04a00040

Cited by 16 publications

(4 citation statements)

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“…Yau and Kaplan explored whether modern and postmodern theories, such as psychoanalysis, feminism, and the theories of the Frankfurt School, can be used to interpret films of non-Western origin (Kaplan 1989; 1991; Yau 1988). After examining the Yellow Earth, a fifth generation film, Yau suggested that a system of indigenous philosophy (Daoism) could be used to avoid the pitfalls of Western theory (Yeh 2011, p. 101) which is premised on treating the Eastern cultures as ‘objects’ and the Western cultures as ‘subjects’.…”

Section: Indian Cinema As a Model For The Indigenization Of Media Stumentioning

confidence: 99%

Indian Cinema as a Model for De-Westernizing Media Studies

Murthy¹

2012

Asia Pacific Media Educator

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The need to de-Westernize or decolonize media studies and research has been echoed recurrently in Asian media studies circles for over two decades, from the pioneering works of Chu and Cheng (1978), Chu (1988), Dissanayake (1988) through James Curran and Myung-Jin Park’s seminal work, De-Westernizing Media Studies (2000) to the recent volume edited by Georgette Wang, De-Westernizing Communication Research: Altering Questions and Changing Frameworks (2011). Communication media theories and models from the West are deemed to have overlooked the rich cultural and communication traditions in Asia—for instance, from India, China and Japan. This paper examines the communication models and theories that existed in ancient Indian literature (epics and fables; classical dance, Natyashastra, music, Carnatic and Hindustani traditions; folk dance and music) and painting, art and sculpture, which predate the epistemological, axiological, and metaphysical bases of communication and cultural models developed in the West. Discussion defers to contemporary Indian cinema to sieve the philosophical, axiological, epistemological and metaphysical elements that have governed knowledge and power relations in Indian society over many centuries. Finally, these elements are used to propose a localized media studies curriculum relevant to the Indian socio-cultural and political milieu.

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Section: Indian Cinema As a Model For The Indigenization Of Media Stumentioning

confidence: 99%

Indian Cinema as a Model for De-Westernizing Media Studies

Murthy¹

2012

Asia Pacific Media Educator

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“…For instance, Yau and Kaplan both probed the validity and legitimacy of contemporary critical theories when applied to Chinese-language cinema (Kaplan, 1989(Kaplan, , 1991Yau, 1988). Taking cues from Chinese intellectuals' ambivalence toward Western theories during the reforms of the 1980s, scholars in the West examined the presumed 'universality' of authoritative theories such as semiotics, psychoanalysis, feminism and the Frankfurt School.…”

Section: Cross-cultural Reading Politicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For instance, Esther C.M. Yau presented herself as caught in this bind in analyzing Yellow Earth, a revered Chinese Fifth Generation film known for its counter-revolutionary allegory (Yau, 1988). Assuming text and theory are somehow antithetical and require connection by historical agents, Yau asks whether a non-Western film with a specific political subtext can be adequately decoded according to a Western theoretical claim.…”

Section: Cross-cultural Reading Politicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pitfalls of cross-cultural analysis: Chinesewenyifilm and melodrama

Yeh

2009

Asian Journal of Communication

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This article begins with a review of the debate on cross-cultural analysis and the relationship between Western theory and Asian texts that took place in film studies. Film scholars have often applied theories of melodrama to interpret Chinese family films, romances and art cinema. Given the vast differences between the historical and theoretical construct of melodrama and these Chinese films, it is advisable to locate an intrinsic and, perhaps, more illuminating term to explain Chinese-language cinemas. The second part of the article focuses on Chinese wenyi as an alternative to the concept melodrama in writing Chinese film history and criticism. The review of the term wenyi and its shifting meanings and contexts demonstrates how a new corpus of wenyi cinema may emerge as a distinct historiography in film scholarship.

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“…For a thorough analysis, seeYau 1991. 12 Ironically, this effect is even stronger in the new ending than in the original ending rejected by the censor.…”

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confidence: 99%