Bursting with Mountain Songs: Gender Resistance and Class Struggle in Liu Sanjie

Abstract

The creation of the classic 1960s film Liu Sanjie was a complex process, and the intentions and meanings quite varied. In essence, the localized, marginalized, and decentralized folk legend about Liu Sanjie was discovered and transformed into a representation of the Guangxi area and even of China proper—a product of its era’s emphasis on folk culture and state-sponsored policies in the 1950s concerning the production of art and literature. Liu Sanjie underwent a series of adaptations from folk legend to Guangxi caidiao opera, music and dance opera, and finally to film. It was not just a product made under those policies, but also Liu Sanjie became a model for later revolutionary operas. This paper applies a textual narrative strategy to examine how artists, guided by the literature and art policies, incorporated, adapted, and reiterated the legend of Liu Sanjie to express gender awareness and class struggle.

Keywords

Liu Sanjie / textual narrative / mass art and literature / gender awareness / class struggle

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

2014 Higher Education Press and Brill