How can we use “metaphorai” (Schirato/Web 82) to help explain this film (Up the Yangtze)?
In “Visual Narratives” by Tony Schirato and Jenn Web, Michel de Certeau defines metaphorai, root word: metaphor, as “a bus or a train, stories could also take this noble name: everyday, they traverse and organize places; they select and link them together” (Schirato/Web 81). Metaphorai can be directly related to the film, Up the Yangtze, by the mere fact that the entire film takes us through the progression of the water rising and how it effects China’s citizens. In Up the Yangtze, we also see the progression of Cindy’s family having to find and move into a new home, along with Cindy’s reactions with the other girls that work on the boat. Cindy’s family is extremely poor and they lived in a shack near the Yangtze River, as the river rises her family has to move to a new location. In the beginning of the film, we see that Cindy’s family has established a sad but well working household. They have their vegetables and seem to have a system for everything, only to be uprooted by the Yangtze. We see the journey/progression of this process because we see the story unfold from the beginning to the end.
In the beginning of the story we can analyze that Cindy does not interact with many other people other than her family before she works for the boat. As the story develops we see that Cindy becomes friends with the girls on the boat, this is a journey of growing up for Cindy. It was important to see the progression of Cindy because she is a young girl trying to provide for her poor family and through her friends on the boat she is able to be her age and have fun without the burden of the economy on her shoulders.
The term metaphorai allows us to grasp the importance of the progression or journey of China and its culture. This can construct the audience because then we can see the trials China went through to achieve their goal of the Three Gorges Dam. Taking an audience on a “metaphor” ride through the journey in China allows the audience to be informed of what is going on and how it is affecting people in China. It not only allows the audience to better understand China and its history, but we also get to witness citizens that were directly affected by the Dam and relate with the citizens in a personal way.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Lyndsay, this is a great point and I would like to develop it further.
ReplyDeleteI think that the metaphoric purpose of the journey Up the Yangtze is political and shows China's journey from socialism to capitalism and the transformation from "old China" to "new China".
Because Cindy lives with her family in one of the most poverty-stricken areas of rural China, the film exposes the daily lives of those in the lower class of Chinese culture. Her family is a prime example of working society. They only make enough to live off of and continue to follow early Chinese traditions. The most significant aspect of Chinese culture present in Cindy's family is that they continue to live by is the norm that states in the later years of the children, they must support their family and parents. The Yangtze cruise ship begins its journey at sites such as Cindy's family, or sites of "old China" and socialism rule.
As the cruise continues, it stops at various tourist sites along the way such as The Ghost City, or the Gates of Hell. Each stop presents a different part of Chinese culture that is being left in the past. Eventually, the cruise ends at the Three Gorges Dam. The dam is a project that the Chinese see as there initiation into capitalism. Because of China's nationalistic views, "the standard line is the small family must sacrifice to help the big family" (Chang 2). This type of thinking shows China's political jump from socialism to capitalism and "new China."
Therefore, I agree that the metaphorai found in Up the Yangtze allows the viewers to apply the concepts of progression in the film. Cindy's journey on the river shows not only her own personal growth but the growth of the country in cultural and political aspects.
I agree with Lyndsay about her observation that the boat ride is is a metaphor for the journey that China has taken toward progress and more specifically the building of the Three Gorges Dam. Her post was very helpful to me because it connected the ideas of metaphori and a journey for the audience. I would like to add to her idea of how the “film takes us through the progression of the water rising and how it effects China’s citizens.” She aptly pointed out that this progression was shown by the journey of the boat. But, I think that adding an additional layer to the metaphor may assist us in understanding the concept of erasure that we discussed in class.
ReplyDeleteFor the purposes of the metaphor, the boat represents modern China, the river represents time and movement, and the rising waters represent progression. I think that the boat represents China because as time goes on, the boat moves farther down the river and the river begins to rise. Also, literally, because the waters are rising, “modern China” moves higher than the old Chinese cities that the waters destroy. Lyndsay explained how the film itself is a journey and therefore the river represents time and movement. The rising water represents progression because as the dam’s construction continues, the water rises higher. The Three Gorges Dam is considered to be a sign of modernization and progress in China and around the world, so I believe that this is fitting.
Using this metaphor, the irony is that the progress represented by the water is literally drowning and destroying cities and livelihoods with great overall human damage. This qualifies as erasure. So, as we discussed in class, all things that are built come at the price of the destruction of others. This can be viewed as a larger, overall theme because enculturation inherently destroys the culture that was originally present.