Lecture Notes in Education Psychology and Public Media

- The Open Access Proceedings Series for Conferences


Lecture Notes in Education Psychology and Public Media

Vol. 1, 26 December 2021


Open Access | Article

Uncharted Surrealism: the Emotional Cartography in Diao Yi'nan's Films

Siwei Liu * 1
1 Department of English/ East Asian Studies, Mcgill University

* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Advances in Humanities Research, Vol. 1, 357-365
Published 26 December 2021. © 2023 The Author(s). Published by EWA Publishing
This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Citation Siwei Liu. Uncharted Surrealism: the Emotional Cartography in Diao Yi'nan's Films. LNEP (2021) Vol. 1: 357-365. DOI: 10.54254/2753-7048/1/ICEIPI_239.

Abstract

In the contemporary time, the Chinese cinema has seen the emergence of various cinematic strategies in representing filmic cities. Among the sixth-generation directors, the topophilia strategy is most frequently discussed. However, Diao Yi'nan, an often neglected sixth generation director, emerges to the spotlight with his ground-breaking crime drama, Black Coal, Thin Ice and continues to gain attention ever since. Differing from the typical topophilia approach, Diao adopts distinct cinematic strategies to explore the intersection of individual sentiments and urban spaces. This essay builds itself on past research to analyze these strategic differences. The key theory adopted is the "emotional cartography", a psychogeography concept that explores the intersection of spatiality and subjectivity. Viewing filmic city as an "emotionally heightened space", the emotional cartography allows for the unveiling of hidden social relations as mediated by feelings and sensibility in a specific spatial system. The anxiety of living in a fleeting material world and changing social relation could be thus seen as the implicit political message hidden in Diao’s narrative. The second part is built on past research and analyzes the narrative force of Diao Yi'nan's film. Affirming the logic of "atypical affects" (奇情) proposed by Qi Wei, the second part argues that the logic of atypical affects is also the underlying force for Diao's emotional cartography. Last but least, the essay argues for Diao's use of surrealism adheres to the logic of affects and externalize characters' psychologies.

Keywords

urban space, emotional cartography, surrealism, Chinese cinema, Diao Yi'nan

References

1. Li, Z. (2014, April 2). 'Black Coal, Thin Ice' by Diao Yi'nan redefines Chinese movies. CNN. https://edition.cnn.com/2014/04/02/world/asia/china-film-black-coal-thin-ice/index.html

2. Du, L. (2020). Mapping out the emotional geography in Diao Yi'nan's films. Contemporary Cinema(090),47-52. doi:CNKI:SUN:DDDY.0.2020-09-007

3. Qi, W. (2020).Antonym modification obsession, strange love infatuation and the emotional impetus of his crime narrative:on Diao Yi'nan's cinematic style. Contemporary Cinema(09),53-57. doi:CNKI:SUN:DDDY.0.2020-09- 008.

4. Shen, C.H.(2019). Leixing-zuozhe de chuangzuolujing yu dianyinggongyemeixuedezijue—Diao Yi'nan daoyanchuangzuolun [The ‘Genre-Auteur’ creative process and contemporary film industry—An Auteur studies on Diao Yi'nan]. Sichuan Xiju[Sichuan Drama],(12),36-42.

5. Liu, J.(2019).Lighting the Night: discussing modelling languages and aesthetic ideas in film noir with Wild Goose Lake’s Dong Jinsong. Dianyingyishu[Film Arts](04),138-143. doi:CNKI:SUN:DYYS.0.2019-04-023.

6. Brian F. Blake (1974) Topophilia: A Study of Environmental Perception, Attitudes and Values. By Yi-Fu Tuan, Journal of Leisure Research, 6:4, 323-325, DOI: 10.1080/00222216.1974.11970208

7. Bruno, G. (2008). Motion and Emotion: Film and Urban Fabric. In A. Webber & E. Wilson (Eds.), Cities in transition: the moving image and the modern metropolis (pp. 14–28). essay, Wallflower.

8. Castro T. (2010) Mapping the City through Film: From ‘Topophilia’ to Urban Mapscapes. In: Koeck R., Roberts L. (eds) The City and the Moving Image. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230299238_10

9. Lan, J. Y.(2019).kongjian·quanli·zhenghou—Diao Yi'nandianyingzhong de renwuxingxiangyanjiu[Space, Power, Syndrome---A character studies on Diao Yi'nan's characters]. Xibuguangbodianshi[Western Broadcasting and TV](23),3-5. doi:CNKI:SUN:XBGS.0.2019-23-002.

10. Mu, J.(2017).‘Leixingzhong de zuozhe: ‘xiaofeizhuyiyujingxiadeyishubiaodacelue---yi Cao Baopin, Diao Yi'nan, Chener de jinqichuangzuoweili’[‘Autuers in genre pictures’: the artistic strategy in the consumerism context]. Dianyingpinjie [Chinese Film Reviews](15),23-27. doi:10.16583/j.cnki.52-1014/j.2017.15.006.

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13. [Zhaoxuliang].(2014, October 31). <bairiyanhuolimiannapimashiweishenmechuxiande>[Why is there a horse in Black Coal, Thin ice?][Online forum post].Retrieved from https://www.zhihu.com/question/23123247

Data Availability

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study will be available from the authors upon reasonable request.

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Volume Title
Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Educational Innovation and Philosophical Inquiries (ICEIPI 2021), Part 1
ISBN (Print)
978-1-915371-00-3
ISBN (Online)
978-1-915371-01-0
Published Date
26 December 2021
Series
Lecture Notes in Education Psychology and Public Media
ISSN (Print)
2753-7048
ISSN (Online)
2753-7056
DOI
10.54254/2753-7048/1/ICEIPI_239
Copyright
© 2023 The Author(s)
Open Access
This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited

Copyright © 2023 EWA Publishing. Unless Otherwise Stated