Screen Media and Disability in Contemporary East Asia: Aesthetics and Social Significance. Discuss.

This PhD project aims to address how filmic representation of disability in East Asia after the 2000s show the aesthetics and social significance of film, which is more than a visual medium. I will interrogate how films are possible to challenge social norms and conventions by exploring the representation of people with disabilities. Based on my master’s thesis Disability Matters: People with Disabilities in Contemporary Japanese Cinema, disability is constructed by discourses. Screen media play an important role in constructing images of people with disabilities. In contrast to my master’s thesis, there are mainly three improvements that I hope to achieve in my PhD project. First of all, I have found that filmic representation of disability is a transnational and global issue, so I wish to examine how contemporary East Asian films share some commonalities while having some differences with regard to the representation of disability. Secondly, my focus is not limited to film representation itself, as I have done in my MA project, but also the process of its production, distribution and reception. Finally, compared to textual analysis as a single method in my master’s thesis, I will apply different methods in this project in order to illuminate film aesthetics and social significance from different perspectives, including field research and surveys in disability film festivals and screening events. In recent years, global awareness of disability has increased with the development of Paralympics and social movements. Research related to disability has been conducted in various fields including sociology, historical studies, literature studies, disability studies, etc. In historical studies, for instance, many researchers try to comprehensively grasp the history of people with disabilities by focusing on disability rights movements, education, labor, welfare, medicine and so on. In disability studies, taking Ikeda Noriko’s Theoretical 1 Wang Xinyi Development of Disability Studies (2014) as an example, she analyzed discourses on social movements while critically examining Western theories and social models of disability. Although disability is a key word in different fields, research has not progressed much in cinema studies. There are some filmic studies that examine the performance of able-bodied actors and problematic images of disability on screen. Among them, Yi Yonng Jae (2016) analyzes body representation of people with disabilities in postwar Japanese and Korean films and Christine Marran (2017) discusses people with Minamata disease from the perspective of ecology in Ecology without Culture. Overall, these previous studies highlight discrimination against disability, human rights of people with disabilities, and representation of disability. Beyond academic research, some governments, institutions and other organizations in East Asia have tackled social problems related to disability, especially Japan, China and South Korea. These three areas share some common social issues on disability due to close geographical connections and cultural influence. However, they have different measures to deal with disability problems, which depend on their unique political systems, social conditions and histories. Under these circumstances, cinema is a site that represents various social issues on disability, including sex, criminal cases and mistaken arrests. While at the same time, people with disabilities create films and videos by themselves, prompting a reconsideration of ableist and conventional ways of representation. Some of these films are shown on international film festivals such as Tokyo International Deaf Film Festival. As it is shown above, there are some questions that need to be explored by researchers. First of all, few researchers study further about contemporary East Asian films that represent people with disabilities from different angles although there are many recent works on disability. Secondly, the number of films and TV dramas about disability is 2 Wang Xinyi increasing after the 2000s in East Asia, especially Japan, China and South Korea. However, few studies analyzing the representation of disability are based on the historical contexts of different countries, which maybe different but share some similarities at the same time. Finally, not only filmic representation, but also production, distribution and reception should be examined. A comprehensive study needs to be conducted to trace how people with disabilities make their own documentaries and show them on screening events and international film festivals. Therefore, it is necessary for me to do further research on how contemporary East Asian films of disability show aesthetics and social significance according to the above three points. In this project, I will research on films and TV dramas related to people with disabilities in East Asia extensively, especially paying attention to production, distribution, exhibition, and reception. While at the same time, I will focus on some specific works as case studies to examine contemporary filmic representation and its aesthetics in Japan, China and South Korea by offering the following six themes, which are six chapters in my doctoral thesis. I will also analyze social significance of filmic representation while taking historical backgrounds and filmmaking processes in different countries into consideration. According to my previous research, I have listed some films and TV dramas as case studies, which are provisional. (1) Blindness: How do contemporary films in Japan, China and South Korea represent blind people? In response to the question, I intend to examine a South Korean thriller film Blind (dir. Ahn Sang-hoon, 2011), a Japanese melodrama Your Eyes Tell (Kimi no me ga toikaketeiru, dir. Miki Takahiro, 2020) and a Chinese film Blind Massage (dir. Lou Ye, 2014) that depicts romance of blind masseurs in a massage parlor. (2) Physical disabilities: Taking a Japanese animated film Josee, the Tiger and the Fish (dir. Tamura Kotaro, 2020), a South Korean film Oasis (dir. Lee Chang- dong, 2002) and other films as examples, I will explore how contemporary films show the emotions and affect of people with physical disabilities when they fall in love. (3) Deafness: I plan 3 Wang Xinyi to analyze how deaf people are represented in Japanese, Chinese and Korean films such as The Day When I Couldn't Hear (Kikoenakkata ano hi, dir. Imamura Ayako, 2021), Silenced (dir. Hwang Dong-hyuk, 2011) and Sign Language Time (dir. Su Qing and Mina, 2010). (4) Mental disabilities: not only a documentary Chizuru (dir. Akazaki Masakazu, 2011), but also popular films/ TV dramas such as It's Okay to not be Okay (dir. Park Shin- woo, 2020) and Keys to the Heart (dir. Choi Sung-hyun, 2018) will be chosen to examine the representation of people with mental disabilities. (5) Multiple personality disorder: many mystery and suspense films portray characters who have multiple personalities as protagonists. Are they represented in a problematic way? Is there any difference between previous works and recent East Asian films/ dramas in terms of filmic representation of disability? A popular South Korean drama Flower of Evil (dir. Kim Cheol-kyu, 2020), a Japanese suspense film Platina Data (dir. Ōtomo Keishi, 2013) and a Hong Kong action film Mad Detective (dir. Johnnie To and Wai Ka-Fai, 2007) will be analyzed in order to answer the questions. (6) Film festivals and screening events on disability: As it is illustrated above, I will investigate how films on disability are produced, distributed and shown in different situations. I plan to examine the role that filmic representation has played with regard to its social significance through field research in international film festivals and other screening events in East Asia. In this study, three research methods will be applied to explore contemporary East Asian filmic representation about disability. In the first place, I will conduct a basic research and literature review. I will refer to some important studies related to disability in different various fields, including historical studies, sociology, disability studies and cultural studies. For instance, I will gather background information about how people with disabilities live in contemporary societies and how filmic representation constructs their images from different perspectives (gender, transnational, body, etc.) while considering broad historical contexts in different countries and learning theories by reading Ikeda 4 Wang Xinyi Noriko's Theoretical Development of Disability Studies (2014), Chivers and Markotić’s The Problem Body: Projecting Disability on Film (2010), Marran’s Ecology without Culture: Aesthetics for a Toxic World (2017), Yomota’s Mizukara natta moumoku (2006) and so on. In addition to literature review, a database of films and TV dramas related to disability will be created for film analysis. I will refer to some already existing databases and create a new one by myself in order to further analyze some works, which is part of my first method as well. My second method is film analysis. I will pay special attention to gender, body, space, narrative and style to illustrate how disability is represented in contemporary East Asian films and dramas. Furthermore, as I have mentioned, I will explore the aesthetics of some films on disability that challenge ableist representation of people with disabilities. My final method is fieldwork and archive collection. I will not only conduct surveys and collect information about reception in some disability film festivals (Superfest Disability Film Festival in America, True Colors Film Festival held in Asia, etc.) and screening events, but also interview filmmakers and related institutions about the process of film production. Furthermore, I will search for archival materials in National Film Archive of Japan, Korean Film Archive, Chinese Film Archive and other related institutions. This project has four unique characteristics in terms of originality. Firstly, I reexamine some conventional ableist depiction of disability and explore how films offer alternatives from the perspective of people with disabilities. Secondly, a broad perspective of East Asia is provided to perceive the trends in filmic representation of disability, which is based on my previous study of contemporary Japanese films. Thirdly, the relationship between people with and without disabilities in society is reconsidered from the perspective of cinema studies, which will contribute to academic fields (disability studies, gender, minority research, etc.) as well as general practice against disability discrimination in daily life. Finally, this study combines a variety of methods and analyzes 5 Wang Xinyi East Asian filmic representation from multiple perspectives. It is not limited in textual analysis of films but highlights the process of filmmaking and reception through field research to provide further evidence about how filmic representation functions in society. This study contributes not only to cinema studies by illuminating how filmic representation plays an important role in showing the relationship between people with disabilities and the society where they live, but also to disability studies, minority research and other academic fields related to disability by providing interdisciplinary methods to examine how disability is represented in contemporary East Asian films and dramas, especially focusing on film production, distribution and reception. In addition to the above contributions to academic fields, it will raise public awareness of social issues related to people with disabilities by exploring filmic representation of disability. Artists and filmmakers who are interested in disability will be connected through my field research. They may be inspired to create more diverse works on disability. I plan to finish the project in three years. In the first phase of my research, I will work on the database of films and dramas that represent people with disabilities. Then I will explore films and dramas related to the six themes as case studies and analyze how filmic representation portrays people with disabilities, especially focusing on the body, style and narrative. At the same time, I will search for some useful theories to build the framework, including gender, melodrama, ethics of care and so on. In addition, I intend to explore how a film or TV drama operates as a contested terrain of the representation of the self and the other. Disability tends to be portrayed as a flaw or loss in ableist films. In that case, people with disabilities are likely to be represented as the other. If such a problematic representation repeats in screen media, disability, as a speech act, will be constructed under ableism. However, Gutting (2019: 87) notes that “society as a whole will be transformed and enriched by what it had previously rejected as errors.” Ethics of 6 Wang Xinyi care provide alternatives to ableist explanations of disability. People are all vulnerable; therefore, people with and without disabilities need to rely on each other to solve problems in society. Next, I attempt to do field research and collect archival materials in the second phase. I will attend some disability film festivals and screening events to interview some filmmakers and audience. In addition, I will collect materials in national archives and other institutions in East Asia to compare historical contexts in different countries. In the final phase, I will finish my doctoral thesis and publish my research outcomes in some oversea symposiums (Society for Cinema and Media Studies, Taiwan Society for Disability Studies, etc.) and international journals (Journal of Japanese and Korean Cinema, Journal of Chinese Cinema, Asian Cinema, Transnational Cinema, Arts, etc.). I will take advantage of my academic abilities and skills to complete this project. Graduated from Zhejiang University in China, I joined different projects on literature, linguistics and cultural studies and completed my bachelor’s thesis titled Androgyny of Hermione in J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter Series. More recently, I have studied film theories, histories and its analysis skills after graduating from cinema studies in Nagoya University in March 2021. As it is mentioned above, I finished my master’s thesis Disability Matters: People with Disabilities in Contemporary Japanese Cinema and presented my research results in Mokpo National University in Korea, National Taiwan University and Osaka University. An academic research paper titled "Disability Matters: The Boundary Between Disability and Non-Disability in Contemporary Japanese Films" was published on Anthology of Transborder Cultural Studies in 2021. In a word, I believe my experiences have made me well-equipped to undertake further studies in Co-Tutelle PhD Programme in Global Screen Studies at University of Warwick and Nagoya University.