Not Just a Laughing Matter: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Political Humor in China

Description

This book offers the first comprehensive and in-depth exploration of the way Chinese humor fits into broader discourses on Chinese identity and modernity in an increasingly globalized world throughout the period of modern China. It brings together the expertise of scholars from a variety of disciplines – history, literature, linguistics, anthropology, sociology and the study of popular culture – to examine the many forms and modes in which political humor is expressed in modern China: films, cartoons, the visual arts, oral performances and online satire.​ Front Matter ....Pages i-ix Introduction (King-fai Tam, Sharon R. Wesoky)....Pages 1-12 Front Matter ....Pages 13-13 Illustrating Humor: Political Cartoons on Late Qing Constitutionalism (I-Wei Wu)....Pages 15-37 Humor, War and Politics in San Mao Joins the Army: A Comparison Between the Comic Strips (1946) and the Film (1992) (Laura Pozzi)....Pages 39-55 Chinese Film Satire and Its Foreign Connections in the People’s Republic of China (1950–1957): Laughter Without Borders? (Xiaoning Lu)....Pages 57-74 Front Matter ....Pages 75-75 Keeping the Ci in Fengci: A Brief History of the Chinese Verbal Art of Xiangsheng (David Moser)....Pages 77-95 Laughable Leaders: A Study of Political Jokes in Mainland China (Howard Y. F. Choy)....Pages 97-115 The Politics of Cynicism and Neoliberal Hegemony: Representations of Gender in Chinese Internet Humor (Sharon R. Wesoky, Ping Le)....Pages 117-132 Front Matter ....Pages 133-133 Political Jokes, Caricatures and Satire in Wong Tze-wah’s Standup Comedy (King-fai Tam)....Pages 135-145 Constructing Political Identities Through Characterization Metaphor, Humor and Sarcasm: An Analysis of the 2012 Legislative Council Election Debates in Hong Kong (Foong Ha Yap, Ariel Shuk-ling Chan, Brian Lap-ming Wai)....Pages 147-167 “Absurdity of Life”: An Interview with Michael Hui (Karen Fang)....Pages 169-176