A Few Issues Surrounding Research into the General History of Chinese Film
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Yaping Ding
Yaping Ding is the Director of the Film and Television Research Institute of the Chinese National Academy of Arts. He specializes in the history of Chinese film and has published more than 20 monographs including Chinese Cinematic Art from 1905 to 1949, History of Contemporary Chinese Films, and General History of Chinese Film. He is the chief editor of Collections of Chinese Films, and the Film and Television Volume of Encyclopaedia of China. He is the President of China Xia Yan Film Research Association and the vice-president of China Film Review Association.
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1848-7489 Haina Jin is a professor of translation, film and communication studies at the Communication University of China. Her research interests include film translation, translation history, and film history. She is the chair researcher of the China National Social Science Foundation Major Research Project, “A General History of Film Translation in China.” She has published a monograph titled Towards a History of Translating Chinese Films (1905–1949) and is now working on a sequel, which will cover the 120-year history of film translation in China. She is the translator of General History of Chinese Film (Routledge, forthcoming).
Abstract
The practice of film history highlights the value and significance of the researcher. A more comprehensive view of the situation of film history raises several issues. General research into the history of film is directly related to the production of film history. The question of how to reinvent general film history research is necessarily connected to ideologies, cultures, systems and concepts, as well as the broad scope and complexity of film history. Writing a general history of Chinese film demands a combination of innovation and continuing tradition, with an emphasis on the construction of a rational and scientific discipline of film history and historical empiricism. The aim should be a more rational history. The paper expresses my own thoughts and efforts with respect to relevant issues and attempts to deepen and open up general research into the history of Chinese film.
Translated by: Haina Jin, Communication University of China
About the author
Yaping Ding is the Director of the Film and Television Research Institute of the Chinese National Academy of Arts. He specializes in the history of Chinese film and has published more than 20 monographs including Chinese Cinematic Art from 1905 to 1949, History of Contemporary Chinese Films, and General History of Chinese Film. He is the chief editor of Collections of Chinese Films, and the Film and Television Volume of Encyclopaedia of China. He is the President of China Xia Yan Film Research Association and the vice-president of China Film Review Association.
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1848-7489
Haina Jin is a professor of translation, film and communication studies at the Communication University of China. Her research interests include film translation, translation history, and film history. She is the chair researcher of the China National Social Science Foundation Major Research Project, “A General History of Film Translation in China.” She has published a monograph titled Towards a History of Translating Chinese Films (1905–1949) and is now working on a sequel, which will cover the 120-year history of film translation in China. She is the translator of General History of Chinese Film (Routledge, forthcoming).
References
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© 2021 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Editorial
- Introduction to Journal of Chinese Film Studies
- Research Articles
- Generating History: Rethinking Generations in Chinese Filmmaking
- Realism and Fantasy in Jia Zhangke’s The World
- Special Effects and Spectacle: Integration of CGI in Contemporary Chinese Film
- Confucian Orientalism and Western Outlook in Martial Arts Film
- A Few Issues Surrounding Research into the General History of Chinese Film
- The Historical Roots and Cultural Core of the Chinese Film School
- Subtitling Calligraphy
- Chinese Film Studies Online: Technological Innovations, Pedagogical Challenges, and Teaching Chinese-Language Cinema in the Digital Age
- New York: Gateway to the East
- Studies of Chinese Cinema in Japan
- Cultural Outreach: Cinema and Soft Power
- Obstacles to Using Chinese Film to Promote China’s Soft Power: Some Evidence from the North American Market
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Editorial
- Introduction to Journal of Chinese Film Studies
- Research Articles
- Generating History: Rethinking Generations in Chinese Filmmaking
- Realism and Fantasy in Jia Zhangke’s The World
- Special Effects and Spectacle: Integration of CGI in Contemporary Chinese Film
- Confucian Orientalism and Western Outlook in Martial Arts Film
- A Few Issues Surrounding Research into the General History of Chinese Film
- The Historical Roots and Cultural Core of the Chinese Film School
- Subtitling Calligraphy
- Chinese Film Studies Online: Technological Innovations, Pedagogical Challenges, and Teaching Chinese-Language Cinema in the Digital Age
- New York: Gateway to the East
- Studies of Chinese Cinema in Japan
- Cultural Outreach: Cinema and Soft Power
- Obstacles to Using Chinese Film to Promote China’s Soft Power: Some Evidence from the North American Market
