Monday, December 5, 2011

the Dam and the Prison

In "Up the Yangtze," the Three Gorges Dam project induces flooding of the coastal areas of the river, forcing people to relocate from their homes. The film focuses on the struggle of the Yu family, one of the many families directly affected by the dam's production. By the film's conclusion, the Yu family has transferred from their home on the river bank to what appeared to be a run-down apartment, a stark contrast to the homes of other relocated families shown to the tourists in an earlier sequence. Director Yung Chang points out in his director's comments that in regard to the families like the Yu's, "the standard line is the small family must sacrifice to help the big family - the nation" (Chang 2). Yet, what appears to be happening is the consumption of the small family for the sake of the nation, a concept interestingly parallelled by the filmed stages of the Yu family's home being flooded until it is completely under water, erased entirely from view.
This moment of something large and beneficial for the greater good overtaking something smaller and seemingly insignificant reminds me of Sharon Daniel's "Public Secrets." Daniel's points out that the impoverished communities within the area of the three prisons are overtaken by their expansion, the prisons' viewed as an increasing industry (vectors.usc.edu). While not as obviously beneficial to the nation as the Three Gorges Dam, the growth of these prisons can be seen in the same light, expansion that consumes the smaller, impoverished areas for the sake of a greater good (note that the communities outside the prisons' radius are not described as wealthy or even urban).
In his essay "Walking in the City," Michel de Certeau says of the expansion of New York City: "It is transformed into a texturology in which extremes coincide - extremes of ambition and degradation, brutal oppositions of races and styles, contrasts between yesterday's buildings, already transformed into trash cans, and today's urban irruptions that block out its space" (de Certeau 1343). This passage seems to also fit in with the idea of the expansion of the prisons' and the flooding caused from the dam. Both overtake the old with the ambitions of the new, encroaching over what de Certeau would see as yesterday's offerings, obliterating them in the process. Either way, it appears that in both instances it is the impoverished that experience the most negative impact best exemplified when observing the Yu family helplessly watching their family home disappear under the currents of the expanding river.

1 comment:

  1. Ricky,

    I think the connection you have pointed out it really interesting and I also was reminded of “Walking in the City” by de Certeau while watching “Up the Yangtze.” Specifically, there was one scene of the documentary that really stuck out to me: when the tourists were on the boat and one of the cruise activities was dressing in outfits known to be an aspect of early Chinese culture. As the Chinese employees aided the ship’s guest in essentially mocking a significant element of their past, Yu Chang’s voice provided some narration of the event. He said something along the lines of, “it is like they come here to see a China that no longer exists”. I do not remember the exact line, but I thought this statement was very impactful in depicting a sense of naivety in the tourists as well as appreciation and longing from the cruise workers.

    Even thought de Certeau presents the comparison of New York City and Rome, I feel that several aspects of the film are applicable to his argument. He claims that, “Unlike Rome, New York has never learned the art of growing old by playing on all its pasts. Its present invents itself, from hour to hour, in the act of throwing away its previous accomplishments and challenging the future” (de Certeau 1343). In regards to Chinese culture and its depiction in “Up the Yangtze”, it seems that Chang feels China possesses qualities relatable to both of these characteristics. For example, like New York, China is continually attempting to develop and move forward so that it may be a more powerful country in the future; however, like Rome, it still cherishes the beautiful and memorable elements of the cultural past in which differentiate the culture from others and remember the history in which was an essential factor in driving the country’s current motivation. Similarly, he mentions how, “perspective vision and prospective vision constitute the twofold projection of an opaque past and an uncertain future” (de Certeau 1344). Based on the representations in “Up the Yangtze,” I think that China is an excellent example of this. As you had mentioned, Chang attempts to justify the situation by explaining how, “the standard line is the small family must sacrifice to help the big family-the nation” (Chang 2). So, it is the ‘uncertain future’ of the country which is requiring its citizens to sacrifice for the greater good, but yet, the country as a whole still seems to put on a front and cling to the meaningful traditions of their past in order to hide the destruction and challenges of the present.

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