Watching Hong Kong martial arts film under apartheid.

Since its initial popularization in Africa during the 1970s, Hong Kong martial arts cinema has enjoyed remarkably consistent popularity. This paper analyses some of the causes for this phenomenon by focusing on the consumption of Hong Kong martial arts cinema in South Africa during apartheid. It arg...

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Publicado en:Journal of African Cultural Studies Vol. 29; no. 1; pp. 46 - 63
Autor principal: van Staden, Cobus
Formato: Artículo
Publicado: Taylor & Francis Ltd Mar2017
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Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
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        atl: Watching Hong Kong martial arts film under apartheid.
      aug:
        au: van Staden, Cobus
        affil: Department of Media Studies, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
      su:
        Hong Kong (China)
        Apartheid
        Consumption (Economics)
        Popularity
        Martial arts in motion pictures
        Chinese films
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          Apartheid
          Consumption (Economics)
          Popularity
          Hong Kong (China)
          Martial arts in motion pictures
          Chinese films
      keyword:
        Africa
        apartheid
        audiences
        China
        cinema
        Hollywood
        kung fu
        westerns
        Africa
        apartheid
        audiences
        China
        cinema
        Hollywood
        kung fu
        westerns
      ab: Since its initial popularization in Africa during the 1970s, Hong Kong martial arts cinema has enjoyed remarkably consistent popularity. This paper analyses some of the causes for this phenomenon by focusing on the consumption of Hong Kong martial arts cinema in South Africa during apartheid. It argues that film-watching under apartheid was jointly structured by state censorship and state-aligned monopolies controlling film distribution and exhibition. These factors facilitated the flow of Hollywood film into South Africa yet at the same time constrained black audiences. Due to a confluence of historical factors, Hong Kong martial arts film arrived in the country just as this dual system of state control via censorship and exhibition was weakening. In addition, the spectacular action and anti-hegemonic narrative in these films, can explain their popularity among black audiences who were familiar with the targeted censorship regimes, and versed in subverting the white supremacist narrative of Hollywood westerns. The paper uses a combination of political economy and film theory to historicize this moment and to understand the position of black audiences under apartheid vis-à-vis Hong Kong martial arts cinema.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype: Article
      src: R
    language: English
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