Filiality in the Aftermath of the Cultural Revolution

This talk addresses how the battered notion of Confucian filiality (孝 xiao) as one of the fundamental building blocks of traditional Chinese philosophical discourse and social practice has survived through to the contemporary era in Chinese visual representation. Dr. Lupke uses the 2004 Zhang Yang film, Sunflower, as a perfect example of how conditions in contemporary China, with its post-Mao legacy, rampant free market sensibility, inexorable dismantling of traditional domestic architecture, and move toward the nuclear family as the basic social unit, have been catastrophic for the traditional concept of filiality. And yet filiality, as a notion that informs familial bonds and directs ethical behavior and a sense of responsibility, continues to stubbornly assert itself in this uncongealed social formation, and despite the challenges that have beset filiality in the modern era, the concept and practice has not entirely died out, though it has been severely undermined. Filiality continues to weigh on the minds of Chinese intellectuals dedicated to representing the current social milieu in visual, aesthetic forms.
Location:
Craigie Hall E 110
Speaker:
Dr. Christopher Lupke, Fulbright Visiting Scholar (Washington State University)
More information at http://www.ucalgary.ca/events/calendar/filiality-aftermath-cultural-revolution