Neoliberal Subjectivities and Cynicism in China:
Feng Xiaogang’s Dream-play Comedies
Abstract
In China today, comedy is a popular film genre, of which Feng Xiaogang 馮小剛 is a prominent director. This paper argues that cynical humor is a key but under-investigated feature of Feng’s comedies, which amuse their audiences by walking the fine line between reality and illusion. Mainly based on Slavoj Žižek’s account of cynicism, I show how a cynical attitude, marked by self-deceptive and pragmatic reflexivity, is expressed comically in Feng’s The Dream Factory (Jia fang yi fang 甲方乙方, 1997) and Personal Tailor (Si ren ding zhi 私人订制, 2013) as examples. I also show how Feng masters cynical humor cinematically to address neoliberal subjectivity in China, of which cynicism is a key feature, in addition to self-entrepreneurship and consumerism. I use “dream-play” to specify cynical humor in these films, whose protagonists are entrepreneurs designing dream-like experiences for clients. Cynical amusement escalates as the dream-play minimizes (but does not eliminate) the distinction between reality and illusion. I argue that Feng’s cynical humor functions as a safety valve in response to neoliberalization’s impacts in China, while the state retains strict political control.
Metrics
The published content is property of the journal and its publisher, the Oriental Institute. The content cannot be freely distributed, unless the publisher gives a permission to publish limited content or part of the content to promote the journal.
