Representation in Up the Yangtze: Hegemony, Alterity, Diaspora

In Up the Yangtze, hegemony, alterity, and diaspora all play a role in the film in light of representation. These words can describe both how the director, Yung Chang, chose to present the issues to the audience and how the audience receives them. These different concepts can be seen in the lives of the Chinese, both higher and lower classes and the tourists on the boat.

Hegemony can be seen in the film through Chang’s portrayal of the tourists in contrast with “Cindy’s” attitude vs “Jerry’s” attitude. The upper class tourists are shown having a lavish experience, while the boat workers are looked down upon as beneath them. Within the social group of the workers, Jerry sees himself as above Cindy and is constantly bragging about his family’s higher position in society than many of his coworkers. He blatantly looks down on others less fortunate than him, whilst Cindy is represented as humble and obedient. Another way in which hegemony is how the Chinese government is able to force the family who live by the river to leave their homes and their lives. The control they have over the lower classes (which have no say in the decision) is a direct example of hegemony.

Alterity can be seen in the “otherness” of the alienated Chinese farmers that are forced to relocate. Whilst the rest of the country is benefitting from the dam, these people are losing everything they have, including their homes and the only livelihood they’ve ever known. In the scene in which the barterer breaks down in front of the camera, he tells about how the police will beat the Chinese who cannot afford to pay them bribes not to. This only adds to the distinction that they are the unwanted ones and the outcasts who can be treated so differently then upper class citizens. Another instance in which alterity is seen is almost the opposite of the previous case; it involves how the tourists on the boat are viewed. These foreigners are represented as ignorant and frivolous, definitely an important “other” in the film. In one scene, the workers are being trained on how to interact with the vacationers and are told not to bring up specific issues around them and what phrases to use in their presence. This makes the tourists seem like they have to be fooled or babied, not knowing the whole truth of the circumstances in surrounding the river. A specific example of this is when the man giving a tour of the relocee’s new houses nervously laughs and says “everyone is happy” even though everyone knows that is far from the truth. Its as if the Chinese must keep up an act for the outsiders, which further “others” them by keeping them from knowing the truth.

Lastly, the concept of diaspora is so prevalent in this film. Chang outlines Cindy’s family specifically in their forced move from their home by the river to their new place. In this transition he exposes the many other ways in which the family is affected and the results of the relocation. Some examples are how Cindy is forced to go to work, how the family can no longer farm food for themselves but must buy food and water, how they are worried that they may not be able to even find a new place, how they are leaving so many memories behind and the stress that this causes Cindy because she cannot be with her family at such a hard time. All of these factors are part of the family’s diaspora and similar for most of the Yangtze relocees.

Up the Yangtze. Dir. Yung Chang. 2008. DVD. Zeitgeist Films.