Post-1989 Chinese Media: The Culture and Politics of Control

1989 is a dramatic turning point in China’s recent history, when the crackdown of the democratic movement in Tiananmen Square led to profound socio-political changes that significantly transformed the nation’s media culture. This course maps the history, politics, and culture of contemporary China through the changing lenses of post-1989 Chinese media including film, television, digital videos, visual arts, and the Internet. The focus is the culture and politics of control in post-1989 China. We will examine the controlling mechanisms in Chinese media in public and commercial domains, as well as the counter-control practices among media artists and general audience.