Chinese commercial cinema since the 2010s: The baokuan film phenomenon under globalization, nationalism, and the changing role of audiences

Focusing on Chinese commercial films since the 2010s, this thesis theorizes the baokuan (hot-item) film phenomenon, namely, films that performed well at the box office and received positive responses from Chinese audiences at the same time. Employing the frameworks of globalization, nationalism, and audience studies, this thesis argues that baokuan films’ emergence is a result of the intersection between the development of the Chinese film industry, China’s interaction with the world, the cultural policies of the state, and the rise of active audiences in the digital era.