China Turned On: Television, Reform, and Resistance.

Abstract

The years following the Cultural Revolution have seen the arrival of television as part of China's effort to modernize and open up the West. Endorsed by the Deng Xiaoping regime as a bridge between the Government and the people, television became at once the mouthpiece of the Communist party and the most popular entertainment for Chinese people living in the cities. But the authorities failed to recognize the unmatched cultural power of television to inspire resistance to official ideologies, expectations and lifestyles. The coming of television has intensified the fundamental contradictions of China's socialist society. Its presence in the homes of the urban Chinese offers access to visions of alternative ways of life and political systems, inspiring the Chinese in their struggle for a better way of living, as individuals and as a nation. Following Tiananmen Square, television remains crucially important in the continuing struggle for freedom and democracy. Today when virtually every urban home has a television set, the Chinese viewing audience is larger than ever before. James Lull's study uses ethnographic data collected in 1986 and 1989, including interviews with Chinese families. This book should be of interest to students and teachers of cultural and communication studies, Asian/Chinese studies, political science, sociology and mass communications.

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