| Abstract [eng] |
This paper examines the construction of identity in contemporary Chinese first-person documentary cinema, with a particular focus on female subjectivity and the role of the family institution. Drawing on social and humanities theories, identity is approached as a fragmented, multilayered, and constantly evolving phenomenon shaped through the interaction of personal experience and social structures. In China, the family remains a crucial factor in women's self-perception, even amidst processes of individualization driven by urbanization, the one-child policy, and socio-economic changes. These dynamics are explored through the works of Zhang Mengqi and Wen Hui, where the camera becomes not only a tool for documentation but also a means of self-reflection and resistance. In Zhang Mengqi’s Self-Portrait with Three Women, identity is constructed through the tension between inherited and redefined subjectivity. Wen Hui’s films, such as Listening to Stories and Dancing, use the body and movement as mediums for memory and the reconstruction of collective identity. Both filmmakers transform the language of documentary and contribute to what Alisa Lebow calls a “plural first person” – a collective “I” rooted in shared female experiences and narratives. Ultimately, these documentaries serve as an alternative form of historical memory, offering a space to critically reimagine female identity in post-socialist China through personal storytelling. |
