The Asian Family in Literature and Film

This book offers a key analysis of the changing perceptions of family in East Asian societies and the dynamic metamorphosis of traditional family units through the twentieth century and into the new millennium. The book focuses on investigations of the Asian family as it is represented in literature, film, and other visual media emerging from within China, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan, and on contestations of the power hegemonies and moral codes that underpin such representations, while also assessing Western and global influences on the Asian family. Individually and collectively, these essays examine traditions and transformations in the evolving conception of family itself and bring together a range of scholars from within and beyond the region to reflect upon the social and cultural mores represented in these texts, the issues that concern Asian families, and projections for future families in their own societies and in a globalized world. Through the written text and the lens of the camera, what directions has the understanding of family in an Asian context taken in the twenty-first century? How have the multiple platforms of media represented, encouraged, or resisted transitions during this time? Amid broader and mutating referential frameworks and cross-cultural influences, is the traditional concept of the nuclear family still relevant in the twenty-first century? This book lends further prominence to the diverse literary and cinematic production within East Asia and the eclectic range of media used to represent these ideas. It will be essential reading for scholars of literature, film studies, and Asian studies, and for those with an interest in the cultural and sociological implications of the changing definitions and parameters of the family unit.

Explores changes and challenges to Asian family structures in text and film Examines Asian text and film beyond traditional Occidental hegemonic perspectives Provides key analysis of East Asian culture from top scholars across the globe

Auteur

Bernard Wilson is a Professor (adjunct) at the Department of English Language and Cultures, Faculty of Letters, Gakushuin University, Tokyo.

Sharifah Aishah Osman is Senior Lecturer at the Department of English, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Universiti Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Contenu

1. Introduction.- 2. Reimagining the Asian Family in the New Millennium: Prevailing Practices, Changing Perceptions.- Part I. Tradition and Traversal.- 3. The Conception of Family in Japanese Law: Its Changes and Continuities,1868-2015.- 4. The Past in the Present: Alternatives to the Confucian Family in South Korea.- 5. Transcending Traditional Notions of Family: A Cinematic Exploration by Hirokazu Kore-eda.- 6. That Which Goes Unsaid: Our Little Sister and Hirokazu Kore-eda's Revision of Yasujiro Ozu's Familial Dynamics.- Part II. Contesting Patriarchy.- 7. A Comparative Study on the Representation of the Confucian Family and the Image of the Father in Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Hulk.- 8. The Chinese Family at the Dinner Table: The Father Figure in Ang Lee's Eat Drink Man Woman.- 9. A New Perspective on Taiwanese Motherhood and Domestic Dynamics in Ang Lee's Pushing Hands and Eat Drink Man Woman.- 10. Fear and Paterfamilias in Taiwan Cinema: A Discourse on Identity in The Fourth Portrait (2010).- 11. Failed Fathers, Sacrificial Daughters: Haunting, Fantasy and Redemption in Bong Joon Ho's The Host and Parasite.- 12. Domestic Space and Feminist Practice in Yang Lina's Trilogy of Women.- 13. Dismantling the Family Ideology in Contemporary Japanese Literature: Hatred and Disgust in Three Family Stories by Kakuta Mitsuyo.- Part III. Gender, Sexuality, Identity.- 14. Transforming and Transgressing: The Dilemmatic Transgender Women in Close-Knit and Midnight Swan.- 15. Promising Representations, Positive Role Models: The Awareness and Acceptance of Homosexuality in Contemporary Japanese Manga.- 16. Sex Work, Secrecy and Sisterhood: Jo Keung-ha's The Body Confession and Post-Colonial Family Constructions.- 17. Skinship and the doing of Intimacy: Alternate Forms of Family Making in Suk Suk, Dear Tenant, and Broker.- 18. Dismantling Heteronormativity: Alternative Family Structures in South Korean Cinema.- Part IV. Nation, Narration, Contestation.- 19. Between Oikos and Polis: Compliant Complaint in Zhang Yimou's Curse of the Golden Flower and Coming Home.- 20. Family-Nation Narrative: Representations of the Family Unit in CCTV Spring Festival Gala's Comedy Sketches (1983-2022).- 21. Representations of the Changing Roles of Family in Chinese Children's Books in the Past Four Decades.- 22. The Haunted Family: National Identity Difficulties in Taiwanese Horror Movies (2015-2022).- 23. No Place Like Home: The Human Geography of the Taiwanese Family in the films of Hou Hsiao-hsien and Edward Yang.- 24. Sans Famille: Hong Sang-soo's Landscapes of Loss and Lack.- Part V. Trajectories.- 25. The Changing Images of the Family in the Age of Globalization: Renegotiating Gender Roles and Family Relations in Taiwanese Picturebooks.- 26. Reimagining Bad Kids: The Emergence of Family Crime Drama in the Chinese Digital Streaming Era.- 27. The Nuclear Family in Twenty-First Century Korean Drama.- 28. Representations and Limitations of Korean Coupledom through Korean TV Shows.- 29. Aging Fathers and the Changing Family Dynamic in South Korean Webtoons.