Presentation Type
Paper
Abstract
Abstract
In the darkest days of the pandemic, an online streaming service offered escape in the form of a 42-episode Chinese dramatic TV series, The First Half of My Life (2017).
This paper provides a history of semiotic thought followed by an analysis of a woman’s professional life in the Peoples Republic of China. It uses, Canadian Sociologist Irving Goffman’s concept of dramaturgy and Austrian social psychologist Fritz Heider’s balance theory. This popular series is the story of the paradigmatic transformation of its female heroine, Luo Zijun, from dependent housewife to independent businessperson. Her ex-husband declares, “I never imagined she’d become like a different person” (Episode 14, 2017). She has help from her family, friends, and mentors for a syntagmatic change. The pain, loneliness, and courage are all personal as she sheds negative habits and builds positive responses to family and work challenges. Zijun’s relationships become more complex as she balances her new responsibilities as a professional and a mother. This paper pays attention to issues like the struggle between individualism and collectivism in modern China. It demonstrates how women deal with discrimination in divorce proceedings and stigma in the workplace. It brings the privileges and problems of millennials into clear focus. One reviewer succinctly summed up the show, “The romance is almost nonexistent, and it is more of a slice of life of 30-something year old characters growing as they navigate through what life throws at them” (My drama list – reviews, 2017. p. 1).
Keywords
Balance theory, divorce, dramaturgy, guanxi (mentoring), millennial, 996, semiotics, working mother
When First We Practice to Deceive: The Semiotics of the Chinese TV Drama The First Half of My Life
Abstract
In the darkest days of the pandemic, an online streaming service offered escape in the form of a 42-episode Chinese dramatic TV series, The First Half of My Life (2017).
This paper provides a history of semiotic thought followed by an analysis of a woman’s professional life in the Peoples Republic of China. It uses, Canadian Sociologist Irving Goffman’s concept of dramaturgy and Austrian social psychologist Fritz Heider’s balance theory. This popular series is the story of the paradigmatic transformation of its female heroine, Luo Zijun, from dependent housewife to independent businessperson. Her ex-husband declares, “I never imagined she’d become like a different person” (Episode 14, 2017). She has help from her family, friends, and mentors for a syntagmatic change. The pain, loneliness, and courage are all personal as she sheds negative habits and builds positive responses to family and work challenges. Zijun’s relationships become more complex as she balances her new responsibilities as a professional and a mother. This paper pays attention to issues like the struggle between individualism and collectivism in modern China. It demonstrates how women deal with discrimination in divorce proceedings and stigma in the workplace. It brings the privileges and problems of millennials into clear focus. One reviewer succinctly summed up the show, “The romance is almost nonexistent, and it is more of a slice of life of 30-something year old characters growing as they navigate through what life throws at them” (My drama list – reviews, 2017. p. 1).