Remaking Red Classics in Post-Mao China: TV Drama as Popular Media

Red Classics, a historic-revolutionary themed genre, was widely taken up again in television drama adaptations in the 1990s, reflecting the dynamic interplay between television stations, media censorship, and social sentiment. Remaking Red Classics in Post-Mao China examines how the revolutionary experience is represented and consumed in the reform era, providing important clues to the transformation of class, gender, locality, and faith in contemporary China.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 206 pages
Publication date: 15 March 2023
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

In the 1990s, China's economic reform campaign reached a new high, with the eager adoption of capitalism. However, the specter of revolution re-emerged, leading to the widespread adaptation of Red Classics, historic-revolutionary themed genre created in the high socialist era, in television drama adaptations. These adaptations have remained a permanent feature of TV repertoire well into the 2010s. Remaking Red Classics in Post-Mao China examines the representation and consumption of the revolutionary experience in the reform era. It explores the adaptation of Red Classics as a result of the dynamic interplay between television stations, media censorship, and social sentiment of the populace. The story of revolution was reinvented to appeal and entertain a new generation, providing important clues to the transformation of class, gender, locality, and faith in contemporary China.

Weight: 454g
Dimension: 229 x 152 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781538153277