英文摘要 |
This paper analyzes how Taiwan society comprehended American television situation comedy I Love Lucy in the 1960s. At the early stage of television development, approximately 40% of television programs in Taiwan were imported from the U.S. Among them, situation comedies were popular and widely discussed for their fascinating new formats and the modern lifestyle they represented through the images of housewives. However, certain debates arose as television intrigued the public with novelty, especially the situation comedies were considered too hilarious for a war-torn state. In the discussions of American comedy, I Love Lucy routed the cultural elites to come to terms with their defeated memories in 1949's Mainland China, and to re-evaluate the new American style of humor. They discussed if it was proper to laugh in a tragic time, as well as how to contain such affects and sensations of TV experiences in the Cold War era. This paper analyzes how the elites articulated the concept of “free” and “modern” America at different levels-materially and ideologically, by way of Lucy the humorous and unruly American house wife. |