Crossroads in Cultural Studies Conference 14-17th December 2016 Program Index

engage with a key site in which a variety of definitions of depression and recovery are elaborated and
contested.
5M
Politics of media censorship and reform (Chair, Rachel Cole)
Arjen Nauta
Navigating the grey zone: Chinese television practitioners and censorship
In my paper, I show how Chinese television professionals deal with censorship issues in their daily work.
Although the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television (SAPPRFT) edicts clear
regulations on television structure and content, my research shows that negotiation is often possible and a
large grey zone of acceptability remains through which television makers navigate their ways. Based on 10
months fieldwork (conducted in 2015-2016) focusing on Hunan TV, I content that media regulation is
constantly challenged and negotiated in daily practice. Simultaneously, I show how the Internet provides
new opportunities for grassroots content production and how efforts to constrain issues such as
homosexuality culminate in its proliferation, whereby the prohibition thus becomes caught up in a circular
imaginary production of its own making.
Yafei Lyu
The Cultural Policies and Censorship System of Importing Hollywood Films in China
In this paper, I will discuss how Hollywood interplays with Chinese film market, and the relation between
Chinese cultural policies and the importation of Hollywood films since 1994. The first Hollywood film was
introduced to China on a revenue-sharing basis in November 1994, since then, the quota system of
importing foreign films has been officially established and the Hollywood films have attracted the attention
of Chinese film-goers. Apart from the quota system, Hollywood films also have to pass the censorship system
when entering to Chinese film market. Because China does not have a film rating system, all the foreign films
need to be censored by censorship committee of Chinese government before distribution and exhibition in
China. In addition, Hollywood productions cannot decide the release dates, and they have to coordinate with
their Chinese importers. Meanwhile, the growth of box office receipts has kept a break-neck speed in
Chinese film market. Since 2008, the annual revenue of film market in China has increased by average 30%
each year. If keeping this growth speed, many experts predict that Chinese film market will surpass the
United States and become the largest film market in the world by 2018. Restricted by the cultural policies of
Chinese government but attracted by the explosive growth of box office in China, Hollywood films have tried
various approaches, such as making alterations, deleting sensitive scenes, adding Chinese elements to cater
to Chinese audience and Chinese censors, or seeking to co-produce with Chinese film companies in order to
get access to Chinese film market. This paper will utilize a method combining qualitative with quantitative
analyses to discuss this interplay between Hollywood and the Chinese film market, and draw on data such as
each year’s box office list since 1994 and the chart of the annual national revenue in Chinese film market to
elucidate aspects of the relation between Chinese cultural policies and the importation of Hollywood films.
Sebastian Martin Valdez
Politics by Other Means: Human Rights and Media Reform in Argentina
This paper examines the ways in which human rights are mobilized as part of the development and
implementation of broadcast policies in Argentina. Human rights are a prominent moral-legal discourse
within the domestic political field and they have served as means to phrase citizens demands, formulate
public policies and envisage new forms of governance. By focusing on a highly debated media reform – the
Audiovisual Communication Services Act, I discuss how human rights have contributed to a transformation
of the terrain of politics in the country. In particular, the paper focuses on how the expansion of human
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