Research Themes

• Towards a View of Speed in Cinema
  Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research
  2013 - 2015
  YING Xiong
  This research focuses on three aspects concerning speed in cinema: speed as modern technique, speed of representation and speed of becoming. By closely reading books for reference, publishing essays and giving presentations, this research made examinations of the representations of speed in the films by Jean-Luc Godard, Jean Rouch, Orson Welles, Lou Ye and Wong Kar-Wai, aiming at a new view of speed and time in cinema. In addition, this research also investigated the representations of body and space which relate speed, in cinema.
  Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C), Hokkaido University, Principal investigator, Competitive research funding, 25370155
• A Synthetic Study on the sixth generation and 'New Documentary films' of Chinese Cinema
  Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research(基盤研究(C))
  2009 - 2011
  Xiong YING
  This research focuses on China's the Sixth Generation Cinema and New Documentary Films. We have partly gathered the works in DVD and grasped the situations concerning these cinemas to some extent. In addition, by comparing with some foreign cinemas we made analyses of the creative aspects in these films, and further, we made a close examination of how much it is possible that these films are linked with the discussions had by Gilles Deleuze in his cinema books
  Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, 基盤研究(C), 北海道大学, Principal investigator, Competitive research funding, 21520121
• Expressions and Representations of Modern War : Comparing Literature and Cinema in China, France and Japan
  Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research
  2008 - 2011
  NAKAYAMA Akihiko, SATO Junji, TOEDA Hirokazu, YING Xiong, KIDONO Tomoyuki
  Through a comparative study of China and France, this research demonstrated how a discourse on the crisis of nation and ethnicity spread through the media and became cliched by focusing on modern warfare in Japan during WWII. On the other hand, from the perspective of literary and cinematic expression, this research also determined that the hidden potential for Japanese literary works and films to criticize the discourse on the crisis of nation and ethnicity existed at this time.
  Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B), Gakushuin University, 20320039
• A Study Pluralistic Relations on Representing women between Cinema, Visual Image, Print Culture, and Literature through Comparative Studies France, China, and Japan
  Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research
  2005 - 2007
  NAKAYAMA Akihiko, SATO Junji, TAKEDA Masaya, YING Xiong, OSHINO Takeshi, MIZUTAMARI Mayumi
  This research conducted clarifies the following five points through a pluralistic investigation of the relationships between audio-visual expression, print culture, and literary expression.
  1, In order to demonstrate the differences between audio-visual expression and literary expression, a theoretical analysis on cinema and literature was conducted. Notably, a re-evaluation of theories related to structuralism and semiotics was carried out along with the re-construction of theories related to post modernism to illuminate the possibility for adaptation in cinema and literature.
  2, The historical transfiguration of the representing women from 1930's to 1990's becomes evident through an pluralistic examination of the relationships between films, paintings, photographs and icons in Modern Japan.
  3, The historical transfiguration of the representing women from 1930's to 1990's was clarified according to the interaction between literary expression and printed expression in Modern Japan.
  4, The historical similarities and differences of representing women between France, China and Japan from 1930's to 1990's was conducted clarifies through an pluralistic examination of the relationships between films, paintings, photographs and icons.
  5, A theoretical analysis on the results gender studies and feminist criticism was conducted for the deconstruction of the representing women.
  Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B), 17320038
• Comparative Studies on the Representations of Body in Japanese and Chinese Films
  Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research(基盤研究(C))
  2005 - 2006
  Ying XIONG, Akihiko NAKAYAMA, Masaya TAKEDA
  a, making presentations at congresses domestic and abroadHead investigator Ying presented War, Melodrama, and the Representations of Women: a Reconsideration of 'Spring River Flows East' at the conference The War and the Memories in East Asian Literature August 2006(Beijing), and Melodrama, Wounded Bodies, Revolution: Focusing on 'Twin Sisters' and 'Nanhai Changcheng' at the Congress of the Sinological Society of Japan October 2006(Sapporo, Japan).b, Holding conference for the research projectWe held a conference titled Trans-border Bodies: Japanese and Chinese Movies in March 2006 at Hokkaido University, at which four presentations were made by our cooperating investigators domestic and abroad.They were Deviating Bodies and the Historicality: Focusing upon tiara Setuko and Takamine Hideko by Saito Aya, Mobilized Bodies: the Body Politics in Japanese Cinema in World War II by Anni, Traumatic Memories and the Representations of Women's Body: on Some Current Chinese Movies by Pan Ruojian, and Ghost/Body: Kurosawa Akira's 'Kairo' by Kawasaki Kouhei.c, promoting the research project and collecting the research resultsBy our studying on Mikiro Naruse, Zhang Che and other authors, and also on film genres such as melodrama, martial arts film, propaganda movie and so on, the problem of the representations of bodies, and that of the cinematic body in Japanese and Chinese films have been historically and theoretically examined and analyzed. Especially our examination into the cinematic body focused on the materiality of cinema, and our analysis of masochistic model in cinema, have made a try to revise the film theory after 1970s.
  Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, 基盤研究(C), 北海道大学, Principal investigator, Competitive research funding, 17600001