Wang Baoqiang: the Man-Child Bumpkin in Chinese Comedy Films

Wang Baoqiang is a Chinese comedian well known for his bumpkin man-child characters. Whereas critics worry that the return of the man-child in Hollywood comedy signals a retreat from responsibility, I will argue that Wang’s man-child roles in the films Lost on Journey (2010) and Lost in Thailand (20...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inGenre en séries no. 12-13
Main Author Lai, Yung-Hang
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Presses universitaires de Bordeaux 11.11.2022
Subjects
chinese masculinity
subjectivité néolibérale
masculinité chinoise
chinese comedy
man-child
homme-enfant
neoliberal subjectivity
comédie chinoise
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Summary:Wang Baoqiang is a Chinese comedian well known for his bumpkin man-child characters. Whereas critics worry that the return of the man-child in Hollywood comedy signals a retreat from responsibility, I will argue that Wang’s man-child roles in the films Lost on Journey (2010) and Lost in Thailand (2012) not only bring about laughter but also challenge the neoliberal entrepreneurial subjectivity which informs the norms of masculinity in China. Such subjectivity is embodied by the contrasting anxious middle-class roles played by Xu Zheng in these films.
ISSN:2431-6563
2431-6563
DOI:10.4000/ges.3209