Fall semester, 2006 The Rise of Chinese Nationalism since 1982 reflected

This study looks at nationalism in China since the 1980s. It attempts to examine whether nationalism is increasing by investigating whether an increase is reflected in the arts, in particular Chinese cinema. The logic behind this is that if nationalism is a politicisation of arts, tradition and culture then an increase in nationalism should be reflected in arts, tradition and culture. The topic of nationalism in China has become important due to its possible effects on what is seen as China’s great role on the world stage in terms of international economics, security and diplomacy. This study takes a post-modern approach to the question. It looks at the theories of nationalism, as well as the debates, which have revolved around Chinese nationalism, with a focus on nationalism in Chinese cinema. In particular the study uses post-modern/post-structuralist methods, such as discourse analysis, and theory such as nostalgia cinema, to analyse and compare six films, which have been produced by Mainland Chinese directors since 1982. These films were selected based on fieldwork conducted in China and it is from the analysis of these six films that the study comes to a conclusion, attempting to add to the debate on nationalism in modern China