The Construction of Tang Wei as a Star in contemporary China: Performance, Context, Reception and Politics

Abstract

This dissertation attempts to explore the complex interaction between transnational Chinese female stardom and the current post-socialist Chinese ideological milieu through a case study of Tang Wei?s stardom. While this study is informed by Western theoretical discourses about star studies, it hopes to contribute to the growing scholarly terrain of celebrity studies and Chinese culture studies. Based on Richard Dyer?s (1979) ?sociological-semiotic? approach , I will also draw on the relevant theoretical discourses in the field of performance studies. The thesis employs Erving Goffman?s notion of ?social performance? (1959) and Richard Schechner?s concept of ?in-between identities? (1985) to position Tang?s on- and off-screen persona and performance within and without the Chinese ideological context. By examining the vicissitudes of Tang?s stardom (2006-2012), this dissertation reveals that there still exists the persistent influence of patriarchal values, national discourses, Party-state?s power and Chinese female star?s `performance? in the (re)constructing transnational Chinese female stardom.