The phenomenon of collective memory in post-Cultural Revolution Chinese cinema: Scar Dramas

Every society needs a trace of its culture, norms, values and memories to maintain its existence. Cinema help to keep these societal attributes alive. Traumas form part of societies' collective memory. Even if collective memories are formalised , they are stil used to analyze the reality behind them. Within this context, in an effort to determine the reflection of the traumas which Chinese Cultural Revolution has created, Scar Dramas are analyzed. This thesis is composed of 3 chapters. In the first chapter, concept of collective memory and its relation with cinema are studied. In the second chapter Chinese Cultural revolution and Post-Cultural Revolution Chinese Cinema are examined. Eventually, as an example of Scar Dramas, four films are to be analyzed within the scope of theoretical frames created in the first two chapters. Keywords: collective memory, Chinese Cultural Revolution, Chinese cinema, Scar Dramas.