Deconstructing Authority with Humor - The Cultural Adaptation and Reinvention of Women’s Discourse in Stand-Up Comedy of China

Centre for Cultural, Literary and Postcolonial Studies; SOAS, University of London ; London, UK

^* Corresponding author: andycao712@outlook.com

Abstract

This paper explores the adaptation and alienation of Western postmodern approaches to female empowerment in China through an analysis of female discourse in the stand-up comedy industry. I used textual analysis to examine the discourses and audience feedback of female performers in the representative Chinese talk show "Rock & Roast". The results of this paper are divided into two parts: 1. the three main portraits and discourse strategies of female stand-up comedians extracted from their words; and 2. a comparison of public opinion on the acceptance of different female discourses and images in the first part with the audience's evaluation. The findings of the study show that female stand-up comedians are mainly moulded through language into three categories: women in traditional relationships, feminist fighters and highly educated independent women. The audience's feedback suggests that a new system of authoritative judgement between Western thought and traditional Chinese gender values is in the process of being born. In stand-up comedy, a model image of women that demands independence but without touching on gender issues is being promoted as the "most qualified" representation of women's image. The category of female discourse has an underlying premise of male discourse, and thus all talk of female discourse is inextricably bound up with male-centrism. Here, the term discourse is important for all normative forms of human life, in addition to what is commonly thought of as forms of speech. For example, Foucault's discourse of power and Said's theory of postcolonial discourse in the East start from all normative forms in life. When we analyze women's discourse in Chinese communication, we also focus on the normative forms of their lives in addition to words, exploring the crux of the problem from the deep psychological factors of culture, history, and anthropology.Generally speaking, women's discourse in contemporary Chinese communication is often characterized by several problems: misinterpretation, deflection, and pleasing, etc. Even though there are a number of feminist movements in contemporary China, they may not be able to truly and correctly address feminist issues. This does not lie in the strength of male power in China, but in the biased arguments and misperceptions of this issue in women's visions.