Styles with Substance

: The Semiotics of Traditional Chinese Martial Arts within Hong Kong Kung Fu Cinema

Abstract

This thesis constructs a semiotic model to examine the contribution made by traditional Chinese martial arts styles to the meaning constructed by Hong Kong Kung Fu film texts. It asserts that the historical significance of such styles renders them complex cultural and social signifiers and employs semiotics to examine their function in creating specific ideological meanings. This thesis consists of three parts which each contain several chapters. Part 1, Establishing a Historical Overview, contextualises the following parts through examination of the general historical significance of Chinese martial arts within Chinese and Hong Kong culture as well as within the latter’s film industry. Part 2, Methodology, initially introduces the semiotic approaches which will be utilised in this thesis before deploying them to ascertain the structure of Chinese martial arts as a sign system. Part 2 then examines the processes by which this system is incorporated into the Hong Kong Kung Fu genre, and in doing so establishes a methodology for the analysis of its contribution to the creation of ideological meaning. Part 3, Semiotic Textual Analysis, explores the functionality of this methodology through a series of detailed analyses. These analyses examine the depiction of the kung fu style of Hung Gar across several texts in order to ascertain how its various signifieds are utilised in the expression of different ideological meanings. Prominent texts examined include The Story of Wong Fei Hung (1949), Challenge of the Masters (1976), and Rise of the Legend (2014). The concluding chapter of this thesis consolidates, compares, and contrasts the findings of these analyses. It concludes that the employment of the signifiers of Hung Gar within the texts examined generally functions to promote various traditionalist values. The chapter also explores where else this thesis’s functioning methodology might be productively employed in the future.

Date of Award	31 Jan 2023
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of Winchester
Supervisor	Laura Hubner (Supervisor), Daniel Varndell (Supervisor) & Leighton Grist (Supervisor)