This thesis conveys an interpretation of the feminist timeline from the times of He Zhen and her Anarcho-feminist contemporaries in China, to Mao’s time, in which female Red Guards were second...Show moreThis thesis conveys an interpretation of the feminist timeline from the times of He Zhen and her Anarcho-feminist contemporaries in China, to Mao’s time, in which female Red Guards were second-class men, to recent times, in which feminist NGO’s are trying to obtain equal rights regarding gender equality. This thesis discusses the concept of agency as a praxis regarding the actions and speech of the main character of the popular Chinese TV Drama: The Story of Yanxi Palace. Agency as a praxis is the most fitting definition to use in the analysis of the portrayal of Wei Yingluo in The Story of Yanxi Palace. As a praxis, feminism is more practical and shows how a simple action could be called feminist, such as the speaking of Wei Yingluo and small actions individually. Post-Structuralist Deconstruction and Discourse Analysis have proven to be useful tools in analyzing the binaries present. Wei Yingluo stands up against a man of higher status. I argue that Wei Yingluo demonstrates agency in the scenes I discuss. In spite of the rules she walks her own path and finds a way out while both surviving and following her own set of morals. In this setting of Qing Imperial China, the rules and the balance of status were quite clear, yet speaking up was not easy. This thesis uses Post-Structuralist methods to deconstruct popular culture, in this case The Story of Yanxi Palace and argues that, using feminism as a praxis, Wei Yingluo shows agency in (almost) all of her actions and speech.Show less
