%0 Journal Article
%T Between Ideology and Spectatorship: The "Ethnic Harmony" of the Manchuria Motion Picture Corporation, 1937-45
%A Sookyeong Hong
%J Cross-Currents : East Asian History and Culture Review
%D 2012
%I University of Hawaii Press
%X Following the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War in 1937, the Manchuria Motion Picture Corporation (Man¡¯ei) was established in Manchukuo. Aiming to be the ¡°Hollywood of the Orient,¡± Man¡¯ei operated as the only legitimate film corporation in Manchukuo, and its activities included all aspects of local film production, distribution, and exhibition. Studies of Man¡¯ei have tended to describe its activities as part of the colonial project unilaterally implemented by Japanese officials and ideologues. However, the negotiations and contestations involved in the Man¡¯ei project render any simple interpretations impossible, especially within the broader historical and political context of the Japanese empire. This article explores how the theme of ¡°ethnic harmony¡± (minzoku ky¨­wa) became the core issue for Man¡¯ei and how its attempted filmic expressions ended up uncovering the complexity and predicament involved in the problem of spectatorship. Li Xianglan (Ri K¨­ran), Manei¡¯s best-received transcolonial movie star at the time, represented the multiple ethnicities of Manchukuo; however, it is less well known that her ¡°mainland romance films¡± were considered inappropriate for audiences in Manchukuo (Mankei). This article will complicate earlier assumptions and show that the theme of ¡°ethnic harmony¡± came to be marginalized, while entertainment films presumably acceptable to the Mankei audience came to centrally preoccupy the feature films of Man¡¯ei.
%K Korean cinema
%K Japanese cinema
%K Japanese empire
%K transcolonialism
%K film studies
%K Manchurian Motion Picture Corporation
%K Man'ei
%K Manchukuo
%K ethnic harmony
%K Li Xianglan
%K Ri K¨­ran
%U https://cross-currents.berkeley.edu/e-journal/issue-5/Hong