The Chinese film industry in the Reform era: Its genesis, structure, and transformation since 1978

Studies of Chinese media including the film industry are divided into two approaches. The "market control view" emphasizes the laissez-faire notions of free markets and predicts the declining role of the state and politics. The "state control view" stresses the continuing role of the state and argues that politics is trumping the development of market mechanisms. This dissertation proposes an alternative to these two views by relying on the perspective of economic sociology, which argues that the market cannot be disembedded from social institutions including politics and culture. By closely examining the emergence, stabilization, and transformation of the Chinese film industry in the Reform era since 1978, I argue that film markets with distinctive social structures are being created by the interaction of the three "logics of filmmaking" based on "political legitimacy," "economic viability," and "artistic autonomy." The findings show the limits of the state-versus-market framework and call for a more sociological approach to market phenomena, which focuses on the co-evolution of political, economic, and artistic logics in the market transition of a cultural industry.; In sociology of culture, this dissertation tackles the question of how to analyze the relationship between the meanings and characteristics of cultural products and the industrial system and organization of production, distribution, and exhibition. I argue that the relation between the nature of cultural products and the industrial system is mediated by the changing, but continuing existence of censorship and restrictions on certain types of films as well as positive sanctions on the production of politically-legitimate films (what is called "main-melody films" or political "propaganda" films). I analyze how the interaction between different types of film text and the industrial context results in such distinctive organizational strategies as product diversification (i.e., produce political films to secure political legitimacy, commercial films to ensure economic viability, and art-house films to claim artistic autonomy) and product specialization (i.e., rely on the subsidies provided by the state for the production of political films in order to survive the increasingly competitive market environment in the Reform era).