Inner World of Drifting Chinese People: Narrative Functions of Motifs in Peter Ho-sun Chan’s Love Trilogy

• Author / Creator

  Zhang, Yishuang

• This thesis focuses on the narrative functions of motifs in Peter Ho-sun Chan’s love trilogy films on drifting Chinese people since the 1980s. The examination of object/setting motifs in Chapter One contributes to the understanding of character-traits. Chapter Two especially discusses the use of popular songs in Chan’s love trilogy by analyzing their explicit meaning conveyed by the lyrics, which is consistent with episodes of the plot, and the implicit and symptomatic meanings behind these songs, which actually arouse the collective memories among the audiences. In Chapter Three the study on the commonly used motifs throughout the films reflects upon the emotional life of various drifting Chinese people as a whole. By virtue of ideological film studies, this close analysis of the motifs discovers the idealism vs. pragmatism binary opposition constructed by Peter Chan and his consistent concern about the humanism when portraying drifting Chinese people.

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Motif
  • Narratology
  • Hong Kong Cinema
  • Peter Ho-sun Chan

• Graduation date

  Fall 2013

• Type of Item

  Thesis

• Degree

  Master of Arts

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/R3509T

• License

  This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Libraries with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.