중국 17년 시기 스포츠 영화에서 신체의 의미 — 「여자농구선수 5번」(1957)과 「다리, 샤오리, 라오리」(1962)를 중심으로

Abstract

Chinese films of the seventeen years period (1949-1966), like other areas of art of the same period, were closely related to the ongoing project of nation building, and, to a varying degree, show the efforts to develop new aesthetics to express the new national ideology. This paper focuses on Xie Jin’s films Woman Basketball Player No.5 (1957) and Big Li, Little Li, and Old Li (1962), which outstand among the sports films of the time, and examines the ways the bodies and the structure of vision presented in the films produce meanings in accordance with and beyond the ideological themes of the film. In Woman Basketball Player No.5, bodies and practices of sports give way to nationalist ideology and almost disappear from the screen, while the love story between the main characters is brought to the fore to materialize the unity of aesthetics and ideology. In other words, in this film, the aesthetics of body had yet to be established, while Shanghai-style aesthetics was able to successfully combine with the nationalist ideology. Five years later, Big Li, Little Li, and Old Li delineated a new aesthetics of body embodying the aspirations of the communal life. In the film, characters are fascinated by sports demonstrations and start practicing themselves, subsequently becoming new models to be seen and emulated by others. In this structure of vision and imitation, a bright and vibrant community is created in which the aesthetics of body and the joy of new communal life are harmoniously combined.