Title: Genre Analysis of Overseas Imagination in Chinese Cinema-Detective Chinatown Franchise
Stream: Humanities - Media/Film Studies/Theatre/Communication
Presentation Type: Oral Presentation
Authors:
Yiting Cai, Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, China
Abstract:
This thesis applies Rick Altmans genre theory to examine the generic conventions of mainland Chinese films engaging overseas imagination from 1940s to now. The thesis argues that among those overseas imagination Chinese movies, film franchise Detective Chinatown (2015, 2018, 2021) have evolved from previously romanticized or touristic treatments toward more complex, interacted forms of transnational storytelling. Beginning with a comparative reading of representative pre-2015 films that frame exotic locales as backdrop or affective resources, the essay identify a common formula in earlier practice: a dominant Chinese subject positioned against flattened overseas figures who function mainly as scenic or emotional catalysts. Using this baseline, the study turns to the Detective Chinatown series as a case study of genre innovation of mainland films including overseas imagination within contemporary Chinese popular cinema. Close readings of the series—juxtaposed with earlier films—demonstrate three interrelated transformations. First, Detective Chinatown enacts a de-exoticizing narrative strategy:exotic spaces are not treated merely as spectacle but are proceduralized into investigatoryenvironments whoseconstraints and institutions shape plot logic. Second, the series manifests marked cultural hybridity: multinational characters and interlingual practices combine to produce attempts of interactive narrative forms. While acknowledging stereotypes in specific characterizations, the study concludes that Detective Chinatown represents a tentative shift toward more dialogic and networked modes of overseas imagination in mainland cinema. The findings contribute to debates on hybridity, transnationality, and genre development in contemporary Chinese film studies.
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