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Isn't Pickle so cute?

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Isn't Pickle so cute?

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Content ISN’T PICKLE SO CUTE?
by
Qijun Liu
A Thesis Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC ROSKI SCHOOL OF ART AND DESIGN
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
MASTER OF FINE ARTS
May 2023
Copyright 2023 Qijun Liu
Acknowledgements
Jennifer West
Patty Chang
Mary Kelly
Vrinda Aggarwal
Jiayun Chen
michon sander
Kim Sweet
Sola Yang
Kacheng Lei
Pickle
ii
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Acknowledgements.……….………………………………………………………………….…...ii
List of Figures………………….…………………………………………………………….…...iv
Abstract…….………………………………………………………………………………….…..v
Introduction….……………………………………………………………………………….……1
Chapter 1: Filial Piety
Chinese Filial Piety.....……………………………………………………………3
Authoritarian Filial Piety VS. Reciprocal Filial Piety .……….…………….……6
Filial Piety and Family Interaction……………….………………..……………..8
Chapter 2: Humor
Humor as A Threat To Authority .….……….…...……………………………..10
Humor in Chinese Parent-Child Relationship .….……….……………….…….11
Function of Humor In Family Interaction………………………………………12
Chapter 3: Diasporic Chinese Family…….…………………………..………………………….17
Chapter 4: Family Exchange Through Wechat
Parent-Child Exchange Through Wechat ..………………………………………19
Individual Chat vs. Group Chat …………………………………………………21
Chapter 5: Liminal Family Member
Definition of Liminal Family Member ………………...……………………….23
Family Pet As Liminal Family Member ...………………………......…….……25
Chapter 6: Thesis Exhibition
T riangulation….………..………………...…….…………………………….…29
Aai Ze Ze, Sik Faan Faan, Caat Ngaa Ngaa, Fan Gaau Gaau……..…………..31
( Say hi hi, Eat Food Food, Brush T eeth T eeth, T ake Nap Nap)
Conclusion ………………………………………………………………………………………33
Bibliography……………………………………………………………………………………..34
iii
List of Figures
Figure 1. 24 Paragons of Filial Piety. Xiong Ren (1823-1857). Wenwu Chubanshe. Beijing. … 3
Seals and Inscriptions of Chinese Calligraphers and Painters Ren Xiong. 1987.
Pp.304. https://www.artfoxlive.com/product/461251.html
Figure 2. Archive material from It’ s T ime to Learn. Performance by Qijun Liu, 2021. ……......15
Los Angeles.
Figure 3. New 24 Paragons of Filial Piety . http://ent.people.com.cn/ ………………………....18
Figure 4. Wechat “Good Morning” sticker. Gif. Archive from personal chat. ….……………...20
Figure 5. Good Morning Sticker. Archive from personal chat. ………………………………...20
Figure 6. Good Morning Sticker. Archive from personal chat. ………………………………...20
Figure 7. Illustration of Liminal Stage by Qijun Liu. 2023. ………………………………...….23
Figure 8. Transactional Model of Communication Diagram, Don Crawley, 2019. …………….24
The Compassionate Geek Blog.
Figure 9. Tombs Wall Painting of Anubis Performing the Mummification Ritual, …...………..26
Photo by Garbiel Induskis, Mythopedia, 2022.
Figure 10. Illustration of Triangulation Diagram Based On Bowen’s Theory, Qijun Liu, .….....30
2022.
Figure 11. T riangulation. Inflatable Sculpture by Qijun Liu, 2023. Los Angeles. ….……….....30
Figure 12. Aai Ze Ze, Sik Faan Faan, Caat Ngaa Ngaa, Fan Gaau Gaau, ….…...…………….32
( Say hi hi, Eat Food Food, Brush T eeth T eeth, T ake Nap Nap).
Video Installation by Qijun Liu, 2023. Photo of Work In Progress. Los Angeles.
Figure 13. Detail of Aai Ze Ze, Sik Faan Faan, Caat Ngaa Ngaa, Fan Gaau Gaau, …….…...32
( Say hi hi, Eat Food Food, Brush T eeth T eeth, T ake Nap Nap).
Video Installation by Qijun Liu, 2023. Photo of Work In Progress. Los Angeles
iv
Abstract
The paper aims to suggest some of the potential causes of a particular parent-child
communication approach within the Chinese context: a tendency to generate roundabout
conversation around other things, which I have called a “liminal family member”, to maintain
family interaction, especially within families that are physically separated. To analyze this
parent-child interaction, I first look at the idea of filial piety engraved in Chinese minds,
reflecting on the complex nature of the Chinese parent-child relationship. Then I explore the
perception of humor in Chinese culture and its relation to family communication. Combining
daily observations and research, the paper hypothesizes that the roundabout conversation
develops through the synergy of filial piety and the lack of humor in Chinese families, among all
other elements, and this tendency has served as a primary inspiration for artworks in my thesis
show.
v
Intr oduction
The title of this paper may sound like nonsense, but it is a concise synopsis of my family
communication. As someone who moved away from home in 2014, when I was 16, I noticed my
parents and I developed a ritual of talking about our family dog as the main family interaction.
Daily conversations had been centered around what the dog was doing and how cute it was. But
this dog passed away in 2017. Its name is Micky. While I was still trying to process the loss of
Micky, who had accompanied us for 12 years since I was nine years old, my mother almost
immediately got a new dog. I wept when my mother brought me to the pet market and asked me
to pick a new dog. I felt betrayed by her and guilty because we were replacing Micky with
another dog, Pickle. My mother’s reason for getting a new dog was that she felt alone when I
was not at home.
1
My grandma was seriously sick, and she knew grandma probably would be
gone soon, as well. She said she could at least hug the dog to sleep if grandma left her. I was
persuaded. Although my mother did not hug Pickle to sleep after grandma left us - simply
because Pickle was too wild to stay quiet - I now understand the importance of having a family
pet when I am away from home. The pet serves as a companion animal but also as a means of
connecting my family together. I do not know how to maintain our relationship without Pickle.
What else can we talk about besides how cute Pickle is?
Putting the family pet as the center of family interaction is not a rare case in today’s
China. Since the accelerated economic reforms in the 1990s,
2
Chinese young adults have been
moving away from their parental homes to major cities in China for education and/or job
2
Liu Jieyu. A g e i n g , m i g r a t i o n a n d f a m i l i a l s u p p o r t i n r u r a l C h i n a. Geoforum 51 (2014). pp. 305-312.
1
My parents have a tense relationship with each other. They live in the same house but never talk to each
other. My father is like a ghost in the house. It was not until I started to make work about family
relationship and family communication that I realized how lonely my father is. Although I still annoyed
by him most of the time, I try to reply to his message more than before. But of course, the topic is still
about the Pickle.
1
opportunities. Some Chinese young adults also leave the country because of the stressful
working culture, heightened totalitarian government, and intensified political environment. In
addition, from 2020 to 2022, the requirement of the zero-covid policy impedes family members
from traveling to visit each other. Physical disconnection from one’s biological family is
common in today’s China. Then a question arises: how do families maintain their familial
relationship, especially the parent-child relationship, at such a long distance? One answer might
be obvious: through technology.
Thanks to convenient access to the Internet and the numerous instant messaging app
options, diasporic families can connect more easily and frequently than in the past. Interestingly,
a bizarre pattern of triangular and roundabout intergenerational communal exchange has
emerged: parent-child discussions tend to revolve around a particular thing, which I see as a
“liminal family member”
3
other than themselves. In my family, this liminal family member is
Pickle. Even though the liminal family member may be varied in different families, diasporic
families use the same tactic to overcome the lack of interaction due to physical distance and to
ease the weight of difficult topics. This paper will examine this particular intergenerational
(parents and their child) exchange existing in the cyber world by taking into consideration the
concept of filial piety and the meaning of humor in Chinese society.
3
There will be a section devoted to this discussion later in this paper.
2
Chapter One: Filial Piety
Filial piety is a crucial concept in the Chinese parent-child relationship. It affects
generations of Chinese people’s conception of family relations. Filial piety is one of the core
values of Confucianism. It stipulates moral standards that include both material and emotional
aspects of the Chinese parent-child relationship. For centuries, Confucianism dominated Chinese
ethical, moral, social, political, and philosophical thoughts, values, institutions, behaviors, and
cognitions. Confucious teachings about filial piety permeate the Chinese educational system.
4
One text the elementary schools use to teach filial piety to my generation (the ’90s) is the 24
Paragons of Filial Piety. It is a compilation of allegorical stories written by Guo Jujing in the
Yuan Dynasty to educate filial piety.
Figure 1. 2 4 P a r a g o n s o f F i l i a l P i e t y. Xiong Ren (1823-1857). Wenwu Chubanshe.
Beijing. S e a l s a n d I n s c r i p t i o n s o f C h i n e s e C a l l i g r a p h e r s a n d P a i n t e r s R e n X i o ng.
1987. Pp.304.https://www.artfoxlive.com/product/461251.html
I remember learning the word “ 卧冰求鲤” (wò bīng qiú lǐ), lying on the ice for carp. It is
one of the 24 Paragons of Filial Piety stories about Wang Xiang, whose stepmother is sick, and
attempts to melt down the ice with his body heat to release the frozen fish for his stepmother.
4
I was 17 when I first encountered criticism on Confucian teaching. That was when I started school in the
U.S. and I was doing research on Amy Tan’s books and saw a Confucious quote saying women should be
submissive. I never thought Confucious teaching was that biased, simply because every teacher at school
only praises his teaching. Furthermore, I also realized that although Taoism is highly acclaimed in the
Western world, I never learnt that at school. The only Daoist story I learnt is about how Zhuangzi
dreamed he was a butterfly. Chinese schools only teach you the moral conduct of Confucianism.
3
Nature is moved by his filial piety, and the ice crashes; two fishes leap out of the ice. This story
later transforms into the Chinese idiom “ 卧冰求鲤” (laying on ice for carp) as an analogy of
one’s filial piety.
Another story in 24 Paragons of Filial Piety portrays a father who buries his son so as to
save money to feed his mother properly. The story ends with the father unearthing a pile of
golden coins and silvers while he is trying to bury his son and closes with a statement: “The
family ever after had a sufficient supply of life’s necessities and enjoyed the blessings due to
filial children.”
5
It seems to imply a message that being a filial child - on a somewhat extreme
level- would ensure ever-after happiness within the family.
Although these stories are meant to educate young children to be filial, ironically, they
scare them away from filial piety. Lu Xun, one of the most acclaimed modern Chinese writers,
who criticizes the stories in one of his articles,
6
expresses his feeling after reading this particular
story on burying one’s son: “But by then not only did I no longer aspire to be a filial son myself,
I dreaded the thought of my father acting as one.” Besides this impression, he also writes, “from
that time on, I dreaded hearing my parents deplore their poverty and dreaded the sight of my
white-haired grandmother, feeling that there was no place for the two of us, or at least that she
represented a threat to me.”
I mention these dramatic parables not solely to criticize the traditional idea of filial piety,
suggesting an absolute negative psychological or social influence. These stories were written
hundreds of years ago and would be considered contrary to many contemporary values and
beliefs. My emphasis, in shedding light on these allegorical stories, is to suggest the inherently
6
Lu Xun. T h e P i c t u r e - B o o k o f T w e n t y - F o u r A c t s o f F i l i a l P i e t y .
5
“ 2 4 P a r a g o n s F i l i a l P i e t y.” Rice University – Web Services.
4
hierarchical character of Chinese parent-child relationships, which accentuates the child’s
self-sacrifice, obedience, and conformity to their parents. This concept persists, unconsciously, in
Chinese ideology and is passed down to future generations through education.
In Thomas King’s The T ruth About Stories, he illustrates the significance of stories and
their world-shaping ability. In the chapter Y ou’ll Never Believe What Happened Is Always a
Gr eat W ay to Start, he told two different creation stories: one is the Genesis, and the other one is
the Native story that evolved around a woman named Charm. In Genesis, “the elements create a
particular universe governed by a series of hierarchies - God, man, animals, plants - that
celebrate law, order, and good government.” On the contrary, in the Native story, “the universe is
governed by a series of co-operations - Charm, the Twins, animals, humans - that celebrate
quality and balance.”
7
The stories that are told shape our perception of the world around us.
What if the Chinese were taught in Taoism’s ideology, in which every equal part coexists with
each other harmoniously, rather than Confucianism’s hierarchical division within things to
maintain harmony?
This thought led me to realize how our values and beliefs are shaped by what we have
been taught. While you are one inside the system, it is hard to see its flaws. That is the reason I
was drawn to artworks challenging the presumed truth. Nina Katchadourian is one of the artists
that I share similar interests with. Her body of works, Charts and Systems, employs a playful and
absurd use of taxonomy. In her work Genealogy of the Supermarket,
8
she interrelates icons on
products in the grocery store and organizes them according to the family tree system. “Family
members” in this family tree include the Quaker man, Uncle Ben, Aunt Jemima, etc. They are all
8
Nina Katchadourian website, http://www.ninakatchadourian.com/chartssystems/genealogy.php
7
Thomas King. “ Y o u ’ l l N e v e r B e l i e v e W h a t H a p p e n e d I s A l w a y s a G r e a t W a y t o S t a r t ” . T h e T r u t h A b o u t
S t o r i e s, 1-29.
5
familiar faces to grocery shoppers. It is compelling to me how Karchadourian observes the
personal connection that brands try to emulate by naming their mascot as someone’s family
member and take a step further to organize a family relation for these mascots. It is this
ambiguous phase where it makes sense to organize these figures into a family tree but at the
same time, who would do that? It is absurd and subversive. She asks the viewer to reexamine the
quotidian but easily neglected details that the viewer comes upon on a daily basis.
Karchadourian’s whimsical utilization of taxonomy also brings me to reflect and even question
the meaning of taxonomy. How are things organized? What are the rules? It is intriguing to tickle
the seemingly logical skin of the taxonomy system.
Authoritarian Filial Piety VS. Recipr ocal Filial Piety .
Although the hierarchy is intrinsic to the Chinese parent-child relationship, we should not
forget the affection and care in a parent-child relationship.
9
The aforementioned authoritarian
filial piety views the social/cultural prototype of parent-child relations by identifying the parent’s
role as a personalized representation of the social/collective authority. Differently, reciprocal
filial piety views the psychological prototype of filial relations in a more universal context of
“processes relevant” to the parent-child relationship.
10
In The History and the Futur e of the Psychology of Filial Piety: Chinese Norms to
Contextualized Personality Construct, Bedford and Yeh object to that previous researchers’ main
focus on authoritarian filial piety, treating filial piety only as a set of traditional Chinese norms,
10
Bedford O and Yeh K-H (2019). T h e H i s t o r y a n d t h e F u t u r e o f t h e P s y c h o l o g y o f F i l i a l P i e t y : C h i n e s e
N o r m s t o C o n t e x t u a l i z e d P e r s o n a l i t y C o n s t r u c t . Front. Psychol. 10:100, 8.
9
Many of the Western perspectives of filial piety concentrate on its negative attribute that constrains
one’s development, seeing how its teachings contradict Western’s ideologies of freedom and
independence.
6
stating that this approach “uncritically borrows theories, concepts, methods, and tools
developed…for Euro-American subjects.”
11
As a result, such research cannot tap into changes in
the nature of contemporary filial piety; therefore, Bedford and Yeh suggest a Dual Filial Piety
Model to study the psychological mechanisms of Chinese filial piety. Besides considering
authoritarian filial piety, the model also considers reciprocal filial piety.
Different from authoritarian filial piety (AFP), reciprocal filial piety (RFP) grows from
long-term positive interaction with one’s parents to generate genuine affection. It is based on
intimacy and the quality of the parent-child relationship, so it is more likely to remain stable over
time and to share similarities across cultures. On the contrary, AFP influenced by broader social
changes as it reflects “internalized role obligations contained in cultural filial norms.”
12
To
summarize, the consideration of both AFP and RFP generates dynamics of the Chinese
parent-child relationship. Bringing in the RFP element in the context of Chinese filial piety
complicates the predominant viewing of the authoritarian Chinese parent-child relationship. Both
AFP and RFP intertwine to form the structure used to bond Chinese parents and children. It
demonstrates that an authoritarian system does not totally drive the Chinese parent-children
dynamic, and its power dynamic fluctuates depending on individual, cultural, and social changes.
In fact, Chinese authorities slightly switch tactics to focus on the reciprocal aspects in
order to address their looming elder-care crisis due to population aging. Due to the lack of state
welfare services, the Chinese government has enacted laws and established organizations to
solve the aging problem. Many of these tactics are orientated around children’s obligation to take
1 2
Bedford O and Yeh K-H (2019). T h e H i s t o r y a n d t h e F u t u r e o f t h e P s y c h o l o g y o f F i l i a l P i e t y : C h i n e s e
N o r m s t o C o n t e x t u a l i z e d P e r s o n a l i t y C o n s t r u c t . Front. Psychol. 10:100, 8.
1 1
Bedford O and Yeh K-H (2019). T h e H i s t o r y a n d t h e F u t u r e o f t h e P s y c h o l o g y o f F i l i a l P i e t y : C h i n e s e
N o r m s t o C o n t e x t u a l i z e d P e r s o n a l i t y C o n s t r u c t . Front. Psychol. 10:100, 3.
7
care of their aging parents. The situation seems to flip the power dynamic that the children are
the ones who are in charge.
Filial Piety and Family Interaction
Even though the power dynamic between parent-child relationships fluctuates or even
flips, the hierarchical family system is perpetuated in one’s mind. There are certain norms that
parents and children are expected to follow and behave. Considering the interaction between
parent and child, this perpetuated hierarchical structure establishes the exchange situating the
two parties in an unequal position. The parent’s voice seems to be socially and culturally
normalized to overpower the child’s voice. This is a result of both personal consciousness -
knowing the role that parent and child are playing - and personal unconsciousness - individual
needs and desires repressed to fulfill the role. Besides this asymmetrical nature inhabiting
Chinese parent-child interaction, generational differences are also something that needs to be
taken into consideration. Different generations’ values and belief systems could be significantly
different. Previous generations are heavily influenced by traditional culture. Many of the 70s and
80s parents still believe in many of the traditional teaching, especially filial piety. It is not until
the 90s that individuality starts to hold value. The result is the clash of different values and
beliefs within one’s family, causing conflicts.
So it leads me to wonder, if the Chinese parent-child relationship is problematic, why do
we still try to maintain our relationship? One rational answer might be the idea of “debt.” The
Chinese often emphasize that children need to pay back their parents.
13
Yet this thinking
13
Referring back to the previous section, Chinese authorities slightly switch tactics to focus on reciprocal
aspects in order to address their looming elder-care crisis due to population aging. The government tries
to solve the aging problem by asking children to take care of their parents by emphasizing the idea of
paying-back. Older Chinese generation hold on to the belief of 养儿防老, raising children for their old
age.
8
establishes the bonding toward a more negative side of the emotional spectrum. It seems to
cultivate a bonding based on benefits. Sometimes it could even evolve into emotional
blackmail.
14
This idea of owning and paying back is problematic to me. However, could the
driving force of parent-child bonding be as fundamental to the human psyche as the need to love,
to care - something that exists in our collective unconscious, but originated in the earliest
formation of the infant as a speaking subject?
15
Foregrounding this tendency could then probably
realign the tilted balance of the parent-child relationship. It would be easier for children to
distance their toxic families. But at the same time, the love for our parents could become less
mediated. The tendency to love and the instituted rationalization within parent-child relationships
to me are two intertwined forces wrestling with each other. While we try to apply scientific
methods to understand these relationships, for example, the family therapy diagram therapist
used to analyze the family dynamic, there is always a chaotic flow of emotional streams that one
cannot easily analyze or describe.
Hence, I do not see the Chinese parent-child relationship as a simple summary of children
being controlled by their parents. It is a complex psychological relationship initiated in infancy
and shaped by society.
1 5
Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopaedia. "collective unconscious." Encyclopedia Britannica, February
28, 2020. https://www.britannica.com/science/collective-unconscious.
14
Sometime when a young adult tries to cut off from their problematic family, the feeling of needing to
pay back often impedes them from doing so. Parents would also use this as a justification to manipulate
their children.
9
Chapter T wo: Humor
Humor as A Thr eat T o Authority
Following the idea of filial piety, humor is the next element I want to mention in
parent-child relationships. If filial piety is the most recognized element in Chinese families,
humor is probably the most absent one. Humor is used as a powerful tool for developing
interpersonal relationships, but it is highly neglected and suppressed in Chinese society. Tracing
back to Confucius's teaching: joking and playfulness can be seen as disrespectful and potentially
damage social relationships. Inappropriate levity and laughter were disesteemed. Gongshu Wen’s
story implied that humor is seen as a disruption to one’s majesty. “Frequent mirth would not only
weary others but would also encourage familiarity, which would in time breed insolence.” “A
man has to be serious to be respected.” Due to Confucian’s teaching, Chinese culture has
associated humor with intellectual and political shallowness, social informality, impropriety, and
immaturity.
16
In short, humor is perceived as a threat to destabilize hierarchy and authority and
thus disrupt conformity.
Take the author, Luxun, I mentioned previously, as an example. The tones of his selected
writings in the textbook are forever dry, serious, and stiff. As a student, I only remember him as a
righteous but boring intellectual who was deeply distressed by the social and political disasters in
modern China and tried to advocate change through his writings. In fact, many of the influential
figures I learned about at school are like that. They seem to be spotless, and their writings always
follow the same pattern of being dry and serious. Indeed, I deeply respect them, but I feel
detached and distanced from these people. They feel unreal to me. It is not until I read Lu Xun’s
article on the 24 Paragons of Filial Piety that he feels like a real person to me. His humorous
16
Yue, Xiaodong. H u m o r a n d C h i n e s e C u l t u r e. “Humor, philosophy and Chinese culture.” 8.
10
reactions after reading filial piety surprised me: this is not the Lu Xun I remembered from
learning his texts at school. He seems to be undefeatable, from what I remember. His tone and
persona are perceived differently between the school and 24 Paragons versions. He is fearless in
the selected writings in my textbook. Yet it is this incongruity between his dignified image and
frightened reaction toward the stories that constitute the humorous effect that makes me
empathize with him.
Excluding humor to maintain one’s majesty can also be seen in political figures. In the
chapter Chinese and W estern V iews of Humor, Yue contrasts how Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao
and U.S. President George W. Bush responded to a similar situation of an audience throwing a
shoe at them: while Wen responded with seriousness, Bush reacted with humor.
17
By mentioning
this, I am not trying to suggest who is a better political leader, yet it is evident that Chinese
authorities do reject the use of humor as a means of solidifying their power and majesty.
The nature of this relationship implied a need to construct an image of who is superior to the rest
of others. Eliminating the use of humor is one of the tactics to achieve such aims since humor is
a threat to authority.
Humor in Chinese Par ent-Child Relationship
Referring to the asymmetrical nature of the Chinese parent-child relationship and humor
as a threat to authority, humor is generally absent and even forbidden in Chinese family
interaction, except for the senior family members teasing the younger ones. In the theory of
joking relationships, Radcliffe - Brown suggests that to deal with the potential fallout from
conflicting interests, sometimes either formal avoidance or joking would emerge in a
17
Yue, Xiaodong. “Chinese and Western Views of Humor”. H u m o r a n d C h i n e s e C u l t u r e, 17.
11
relationship. The joking relationships are characterized by teasing, which is “always a compound
of friendliness and antagonism.”
18
The joking can be symmetrical or asymmetrical. In
symmetrical joking relationships, you and another person joke with each other. In an
asymmetrical joking relationship, only you or the other person is joking on one side. In most
cases, Chinese families adopt the asymmetrical joking relationship, which I do not see humor in
it.
The asymmetrical joking relationship in Chinese families parallels the superiority theory
of humor: we laugh from feelings of superiority over other people.
19
“This kind of humor simply seeks to reinforce consensus and in no way seeks to criticize the
established order or change the situation we find ourselves in. However, true humor should be
able to change the situation in which we find ourselves and can even have a critical function with
respect to society, speaking against those structures by showing that they have no necessity.”
20
Therefore, allowing only senior family members to tease the younger ones is not a form
of true humor since it simply reinforces the hierarchy in family structure, contributing nothing to
improving the interaction between parent and child.
Function of Humor In Family Interaction
If the asymmetrical relationship and intergenerational difference seem to cause conflict
and obstacles in the parent-child relationship, then true humor seems to be a reasonable approach
to lubricate the tension and disrupt the structure. Besides the superiority theory, there are two
other theories of humor.
20
Critchley, Simon. O n H u m o u r, 9.
19
Critchley, Simon. O n H u m o u r, 2.
18
Radcliffe-Brown, AR 1965, “On Joking Relationships”, S t r u c t u r e a n d f u n c t i o n i n p r i m i t i v e s o c i e t y :
e s s a y s a n d a d d r e s s e s, Free Press, New York, 104.
12
The first one is Freud’s relief theory. In his 1905 book, Jokes and Their Relation to the
Unconscious, he suggests that “the energy that is relieved and discharged in laughter provides
pleasure because it allegedly economizes upon energy that would ordinarily be used to contain or
repress psychic activity.”
21
One example would be Hong Kong’s slapstick humor mou lei tau (or
mo lei tau).
22
It is a type of nonsensical humor that Hong Kong film director Stephen Chow
popularized in the 90s. Its implementation heavily relies on using nonsensical language to
subvert common expectations. “It is a highly effective way to diffuse a tense situation and help
someone relax a little.”
23
The meanings implied in their nonsensical behaviors tend to challenge
traditional values and the order of a culture. Many Hongkongers in the 90s saw the mou lei tau as
an approach to deal with the frustrations and anxieties caused by the handover of Hong Kong’s
sovereignty in 1997.
24
If this is the case, mou lei tau seems to be a roundabout manner for people
facing political hardship or uncertainty.
Additionally, in many of these mou lei tau films, the protagonists are frequently
powerless ordinary people, but they end up saving the world. Hongkongers perceive this type of
humor as a mockery of power and a chance for ordinary people to speak up and challenge
authority as an individual. Stephen Chow’s films seem to be a series of daydreams for
individuals to regain their autonomy; however, their purpose is more toward the healing side
rather than the subverting side.
24
Just as nowadays Chinese releasing their political and personal stress by making cynical self-mockery
jokes about the situation. This kind of humor seems to ease the conflict and tension but still does not
initiate changes.
2 3
Tam , Luisa. “The Comedy in Nonsense Helped Hongkongers Overcome Their Fears.” South China
Morning Post, April 25, 2020.
22
I grew up watching Stephen Chow’s film and his films had a great impact on formulating my sense of
humor.
21
Critchley, Simon. O n H u m o u r, 3.
13
The humor that functions more toward the subversive side is the humor based on the
incongruity theory, with which I feel most aligned. In this theory, humor is produced by the
experience of a felt incongruity between what we know or expect to be the case. In order for the
incongruity of the joke to be seen as such, there has to be a congruence between joke structure
and social structure - “no social congruity, no comic incongruity.”
25
One artist example would be
Ge Yulu, a contemporary Chinese artist who focuses on subtly resisting and challenging
authority on an everyday level. In 2014, after Ge moved to Beijing to study at the Central
Academy of Fine Arts, he noticed a small road near the campus without a road sign. Since his
name “Lu” means “road” in Chinese, he decided to name the road after his name by installing an
imitation of the authentic municipal road sign bearing his name. For three years, the road sign
remained there and was mistakenly registered as an actual municipal sign, given the functionality
of a street sign, such as using the street name as the address for delivery and navigation. Until
2017, Ge placed an identical road sign at his graduation show at the academy. Then the road sign
became a media sensation. The Chinese authorities immediately removed the sign after the news
became widespread.
In this work, Ge Y ulu (Ge Y u “Road”), Ge utilizes the system as an instrument to
complete his work. He plays with the rules and apparatus of the power system to “trick” the
system and the authority. In one of Ge’s interviews, he said, “ I just moved things around. I
didn’t do anything (to ensure the new road sign was accepted); the social system did. The whole
piece was about how social mechanisms operate.”
26
Ge sees the blind spot of the power system
and uses his trick to destabilize the stiffened power structure and question the authority. It is this
26
“Geyulu: Yi Shu Wu Yong, Dan Ye Shi Yi Zhong Wei Ruo De Fan Kang 葛宇路：艺术无用，但也是
一种微弱的反抗” [Yulu Ge: Art is useless, but it is also a subtle resistance], Sep 21, 2020,
https://www.wainao.me/wainao-reads/geyulu-09212021
25
Critchley, Simon. O n H u m o u r, .4.
14
incongruity between the perception of an indefectible system and its surprising fragility that
generate humor. His work demonstrates how our assumed truths are, in the end, a constellation of
arbitrary.
The realization leads to my performance It’ s T ime to Learn in 2021. In the performance, I
played the role of a Chinese teacher and taught the USC faculties, who are mostly non-Chinese
speakers, pseudo-Chinese I invented. The performance is contrary to a lesson’s ultimate
outcome: to learn something. It questions the “knowledge” we have been feeding through the
educational system. To do that, I randomly made up a list of non-related English words, pairing
them with images (some matched, some are not), the pseudo-Chinese writing and Chinese
pinyin. The absurdity level was increased as the next word I taught gets more and more
ridiculous. Students (the participant) were asked to learn how to pronounce and write along with
me as well. Visual hints were applied, so non-Chinese speakers are still able to be skeptical about
the words they have been taught. Additionally, it was intended to explore the power dynamic
between the student and the authority that grants to the teacher in a classroom setting. As I
mentioned earlier, Chinese perceive humor as a threat to authority; therefore, teachers tend to
avoid humor in the Chinese classroom. Bearing this thought, I utilized humor to satire such a
teacher-student dynamic through absurdity and fluidity, and the concept of learning something
through learning nothing.
Figure 2. Example of the how the words were demonstrated during the lesson
15
Circling back to the parent-child context, there is a communal understanding of the
parent and child’s roles. To maintain these roles, humor is often absent in their interaction due to
its danger of dismissing authority and respect. Then it means joking with our parents is a sign of
disrupting the consolidated structure and easing the conflict. A sense of incongruity arises when
the child is joking with their parents, which is not something usually expected. For the rest of the
paper, I am going to analyze what it means for parents and children to center their interaction
around a cute object and how filial piety and humor are related to the occurrence of this
communication pattern.
16
Chapter Thr ee: Diasporic Chinese Family
Although “four generations under one roof”( 四代同堂)
27
is an ideal transitional family
structure, as time changes, family members start to live apart from each other. It changes to only
parents living with their married child, which is a more Western structure as a nuclear family.
But now, the inclination of children to live with their parents is decreasing.
28
The question of
how to maintain parent-child relationships has been an issue not only concerning each individual
family but also in Chinese society as a whole. Taking the 24 Paragons of Filial Piety as an
example again , the Chinese government issued a new edition of it supposedly updated for
modern times, so today’s youth would find it relevant. All of the new rules seem to implicitly
target the diasporic family, but there are a few that make it explicit to tell:
1. Bringing wife and child home more often
5. Calling Parents Every Week
9. Teaching Parents to use the Internet
It is number 9 - teaching parents to use the Internet- interests me the most. It demonstrates that
the Internet has been a crucial part of parent-child interaction. Today’s technology helps to glue
the fragmented family together. It makes personal exchange instant, bringing the apart family
members closer.
2 8
Xu Anqi and Xue Yali. “Family Structure.” In T h e C h i n e s e F a m i l y T o d a y, 14-58.
2 7
The idea first appears in a traditional Chinese text, T h e T h r e e C h a r a c t e r C l a s s i c (Composed by Wang
Po Hou during the Sung Dynasty, A.D. 960): “ 高曾祖，父而身，身而子，子而孙。自子孙，至玄曾，
乃九族，人之伦.” Great-great grandfather, great-grandfather, grandfather, father, self and son, grandson,
great-grandson, great-great grandson are the nine generations in the order of family relationship.
17
Figure 3. New 2 4 P a r a g o n s o f F i l i a l P i e t y . http://ent.people.com.cn/
18
Chapter Four: Family Exchange Thr ough W echat
Par ent-Child Exchange Thr ough W echat
The Chinese parent-child exchange I am investigating is focused on the intergenerational
exchange that happens within Wechat. The reason is that WeChat has become the main medium
used by Chinese families to exchange information in China. By incorporating functions such as
mini programs, official accounts, and other services, Wechat has evolved into more than an
instant messaging app. It is a multifunctional platform of communication, payment, and
information.
29
Although Chinese families mainly use Wechat to connect with each other, its
diversified functions provide various possible modes to communicate: texting, Wechat Stickers,
voice call, video call, and sharing information obtained from Wechat. Families adopt a mixture
of these modes to communicate.
The first way to interact via Wechat is to text, which is constituted by written language. It
is the most formal and traditional way to communicate on WeChat. It requires people to process,
organize, and translate their abstract thoughts into a concrete form of written message. Sending
photos and videos are also under the category of texting. The second way is to send Wechat
stickers, which are essentially memes. Wechat stickers are a huge part of Wechat interactions.
They are an expressive way to convey feelings that are not able to be carried out with text,
something similar to but more elaborate than emoji. There is a trend among parents/older
generations to send “Good Morning” stickers to family members every day. This kind of sticker
is nicknamed “older people’s stickers.” They are memes that burst with enthusiasm and
optimism. While memes are often a way to react to current events, these older people’s stickers
embrace only motivational purposes. They are a collage with random pairings between blessings
2 9
Li Kun. T h e m e d i a i m a g e o f C h i n e s e o l d e r p e o p l e : F r o m s t i g m a t i c s t e r e o t y p e t o d i v e r s e
s e l f - r e p r e s e n t a t i o n. Global Media and China. 2021, V ol. 6(3), 284.
19
and recognizable representations, such as flowers, animals, and people’s faces. Last, the aesthetic
of these stickers is often high saturation and full of dazzling specific effects. Many older
generations send these memes as a greeting and a way to stay connected with family members.
In some families, these “Good Morning” stickers are the only content family members send.
These two methods make family communication both easier and harder. It makes communication
easier since you are not confronted with an instant reaction when saying something; at the same
time, it does not necessarily generate sincere engagement: since the presence of the sender and
the receiver becomes a bunch of abstract words, symbols, and images.
Fig 4. Wechat sticker , Gif. The Chinese says, “Good Morning. Heading to hopes.”
The eagle is flapping its wing to fly toward hope.
Figures 5 & 6. More examples of Good Morning sticker.
20
Besides these Good Morning memes, older people also like to share Wechat articles that
cohere around several themes, ranking from the highest to the lowest, which are healthy
lifestyles, motivational pep talks, the latest events, and some vulgar content. Oftentimes, parents
send these articles intended to educate the child or warn the child against something; however,
these articles are often misleading information. Sometimes they are so ridiculous to the point that
I find them hilarious. Although it may not enhance the connection between parent and child, I do
see them as a way for parents to show their affection and maintain a connection.
The last two ways to realize interpersonal exchange on Wechat are to make voice calls or
video calls. These two are the most direct way of communicating in terms of its immediacy.
They add more sensibility to the interaction. Family members are able to sense each other’s
emotions and presence more clearly through each other’s voices or facial expressions. It requires
more concentration to engage in the interaction due to the need for immediate responses.
Although I break down the ways of interaction in Wechat, it does not mean families only interact
in one way.
Individual Chat vs. Gr oup Chat
Instead of having a mother-child or father-child individual chat interaction, many of the
diasporic family members tend to have Wechat group chat where parents and children are all in
the same group to communicate. This probably could be explained by the theory of triangulation
in psychology. According to Murry Bowen’s family theory, a triangle is a three-person
relationship system. It is the “building block” or “molecule”of larger emotional systems as it is
the smallest stable unit. Bowen believed that a two-person system is unstable because it can only
tolerate little tension before needing a third person; however, a triangle allows the tension to shift
21
around three relationships so it can contain much more tension without involving another person.
If the tension becomes too intense to contain within one triangle, it may spread out to form a
series of “interlocking” triangles. Although shifting and spreading the tension stabilize the
system, nothing is resolved.
30
One of my mother’s friends even put our family and her family
together in one single group chat. Her son told me that they do not interact with each other
besides this mutual family group chat.
Whenever his mother has a conflict with him, my mother will ask me to speak to her son in the
group chat so his mother can jump into the conversation.
3 0
“Triangles.” The Bowen Center for the Study of the Family, 2021.
https://www.thebowencenter.org/triangles.
22
Chapter Five: Liminal Family Member
If the family group chat is a rite, then the recurring communication patterns in the chat
are the ritual to perform. One ritual I notice is that many diasporic Chinese families tend to
cohere their conversation around something else other than themselves. I would call this thing a
liminal family member. According to Merriam-Webster’s definition, one of the definitions for
liminal is: of, relating to, or being an intermediate state, phase, or condition: in-between,
transitional. In Allison Wright’s writing, she suggests the use of liminal in the context of media -
“ areas and practices of mediation, as well as mediated subjects and objects - the concept of
liminal shapes a variety of ambiguous forms (and anti-forms).”
31
In the field of anthropology,
Wright points out in her explanation that liminal also emphasizes this quality of becomingness
and ambiguity.
Figure 7. Illustration of Liminal Stage by Qijun Liu
3 1
Wright Allison. “Liminal.” The Chicago School of Media Theory: Theorizing Media since 2003.
https://lucian.uchicago.edu/blogs/mediatheory/keywords/liminal/.
23
The illustration of the liminal stage is thought-provoking to me. At the first glance, it
looks like a venn diagram, where the liminal stage becomes the overlapping area for the left side
and the right side, a common ground. Nevertheless, the concept of a venn diagram contradicts
the idea of the liminal stage as ambiguous, since the venn diagram aims to clarify and categorize.
But if you think about the diagram as a moving image, then it makes sense how the liminal stage
is a middle phase for a stage moving from the left to the right. It sparks my interest in the image
of the two circles side by side.
Relating to the context of the communication diagram, the function of this liminal family
member is also this middle ground of communication (figure 6): it is the message and content
itself. Family members talk about (subject) and talk through (object) this liminal family member.
Interaction passes through its body. Thinking in terms of the triangulation mentioned earlier, this
liminal family member is also a transitional point to help form a stable family unit.
Figure 8. Transactional Model of Communication Diagram,
Don Crawley, 2019. The Compassionate Geek Blog.
To be a liminal family member, it should generate affection and be easy to talk about.
First, if both parent and the child find this liminal family member likable, there is more
inclination to grapple with everyone’s care and affection. Considering the generational
differences, it generates common interest that is usually hard to locate. Moreover, the mixture of
24
authoritarian and reciprocal filial piety motivates the need to interact with one’s parents;
however, oftentimes, families are too disconnected to stay connected. Having something that
generates common interest is one way to solve the issue.
Second, talking about something else is easier than being vulnerable oneself. Due to the
asymmetrical nature of the Chinese parent-child relationship, it makes being vulnerable to each
other the hardest thing to accomplish. Growing up with the hierarchy and intergenerational
differences in mind, many Chinese children tend to conceal their real thoughts in front of their
parents. This tendency continues after they grow up. Especially when being apart from each
other, the distance makes explanation of one’s situation difficult.
Sometimes, this liminal family member lacks a sense of independence; it becomes an
empty vessel that every family member can fill up with their voice. Its position is neutral. In this
context, with the third party present in the family, parent-child asymmetry reduces and even
dissolves. Parents and children can participate in the conversation equally since it is no longer
directly about each other. Then humor can easily arise. This liminal family member becomes the
tissue of the family, binding the individual parts of the family together. It is also the fluid that
acts as a lubricator, moistening the friction between individual parts. It could be a newborn baby,
a family pet, the plants in one’s garden, or even the Good Morning meme. In my family, our
family dog, Pickle, became this tissue and fluid.
Family Pet As Liminal Family Member
Among all choices, a family pet is oftentimes the liminal family member. They are in the
ambiguous stage where they are both domesticated and wild. There is a long history of dogs
being domesticated and mutated according to human’s desire; however, they are still lingering
25
between the stage of domestication and wildness. Moverover, it can also refers to the Egyptian
god, Anubis, who “supervised the embalming and burial of the deceased and who guided the
dead to the underworld.”
32
Anubis’s representation is a human body with a jackal head, a liminal
being. The space to travel through between this world and the underworld is also a liminal space.
Since his job is to guide the dead to the underworld, it could be seen as someone who guides
people to travel through liminal spaces. The embalming of the corpse is a method to preserve -
parallels with the roundtable conversation around the dog to preserve the family relationship.
Figure 9. Tombs Wall Painting of Anubis Performing the Mummification Ritual.
Photo by Garbiel Induskis, Mythopedia, 2022.
Besides the coincident relation I found in Anubis about dog’s relations to liminality, there
are two more practical relations I can think of - they are funny and cute. In his book On Humor,
Simon Critchley writes that “Human as a dynamic process produced by a series of identifications
and misidentifications with animality. Thus, what makes us laugh is the reduction of the human
to the animal or the elevation of the animal to human. Comic urbanity of the animal, where the
humor is generated by the sudden and incongruous humanity of the animal.”
33
It implies how we
see human as a species superior to animal. It is to some extend a form of superiority humor. I see
33
Critchley, Simon. “Is Humor Human?” O n H u m o r, 29.
32
Meehan Evan. E g y p t i a n G o d : A n u b i s. Mythopedia, November 29, 2022.
26
laughing at “the reduction of human to the animal” similar to how we laughed at a comic actor’s
clumsy act. The second layers is “the elevation of the animal to human.” Many families
nowadays would treat their pet as a family member. In the video my mother sent me of our
family dog, Pickle, she would brush Pickle’s teeth, tug Pickle to bed, talk to Pickle, and interpret
Pickle’s actions in the human context. It is her absurd way of treating Pickle as a toddler that
amuses me.
Besides the humor based on the superiority theory, the family pet as a liminal family
member also parallels Freud’s relief theory. The family pet creates a buffer zone in between the
distanced parent-child interaction. It releases or pent-up the nervous energy through its playful
nature. To laugh together at Pickle’s mischievous behavior release the pressure of constantly
coming up with topic when there is nothing to talk about in reality. It is also an effortless way to
maintain our parent-child relationship. We only need to talk about how cute Pickle is. Indeed,
Pickle is so cute - a second noteworthy quality of why the family pet is a common choice for the
liminal family member.
Cuteness is often associated with infantilized characteristics, such as large eyes and big
head. In the case of the pet, such infantilization unconsciously makes us want to protect and take
care of the pet. It is easy to provoke affection toward them. If this liminal family member is not
able to make everyone in the family care about it, then there is no interaction. Cuteness is also a
form of softened beauty, in which sometimes is simple and easy to consume. Parents and
children can interact with the pet because it is easy to talk about. We can just express our
affection for the pet’s cuteness and it is delightful. It is a form of immediate emotional response.
Yet, in an interview on her book Our Aesthetic Categories, Sianne Ngai said, “Cute [...] is
based on the complex feelings that arise from our encounters with notably “formless” forms: the
27
squishy blob, the indefinite series, the chaotic flow of activity.”
34
Although it is more about cute
as an aesthetic style, I think this quote encapsulates the idea of my thinking about a liminal
family member. The liminal family member can be shaped by the other family members. It is
soft, mutable, and harmless: the squishy blob. It generates a repetitive interpersonal exchange
that is logically meaningless: the indefinite series. It is a substantialization of the family
interaction: the chaotic flow activity. These three nouns were also something in mind when I was
developing my artwork for the thesis show. They seem to be on the opposite side of the rigid
systematic world.
34
Ngai Sianne. “OUR AESTHETIC CATEGORIES: AN INTERVIEW WITH SIANNE NGAI:The cute,
the interesting, and the zany.” By Jasper Adam. Forensics. Issue 43: Fall 2011.
28
Chapter Six: Thesis Exhibition
T riangulation
The exhibition begins with the idea to make the dog the center of a family through the
use of various scientific diagrams, including mathematical and psychological ones, as a satire to
rupture the human-made systems as a way to rationalize and put the world in order. The
triangular inflatable is one of the works created to serve this purpose. The work is based on
Bowen’s theory of triangulation, in which I see our liminal family member, Pickle, as the
stabilizer to our family dynamic. However, I do not think human relationships can be described
in such a clean-cut clarification. Although the dog stands in to reduce the conflicts, relationships
are never able to be stable. Therefore, I built a triangular-based pyramid, symbolizing the family
dog, by transparent plastic. There are three electric fans that keep blowing at the inflatable to
make it wobble. The electrical cord that powers the fans and the inflatable got tangled up on the
floor, creating a chaotic mess of entanglement. The shape of the triangle is often preceded as the
most stable shape. Jud Fine, one of the USC faculties, told me that oftentimes, the first shape
sculpture students built is the pyramid, because it is considered the most stable shape. The simple
shape of the triangle can evoke many different associations, such as the Egyptian pyramid, the
hierarchical ranking chart, traffic cones, which are frequently related to order and solidarity. The
soft and transparent plastic I used also subverted the sturdy and acute feeling of a triangle. It
makes the triangle feel like a bubble.
29
Figure 10. Illustration of Triangulation Diagram Based On Bowen’s Theory by Qijun Liu, 2022.
Figure 11. T r i a n g u l a t i o n. Inflatable Sculpture by Qijun Liu, 2022. Los Angeles.
30
Aai Ze Ze, Sik Faan Faan, Caat Ngaa Ngaa, Fan Gaau Gaau (Say hi hi, Eat Food Food,
Brush T eeth T eeth, T ake Nap Nap)
The other work that transforms common perception through the content of roundtable
family communication is the work Aai Ze Ze, Sik Faan Faan, Caat Ngaa Ngaa, Fan Gaau Gaau,
( Say hi hi, Eat Food Food, Brush T eeth T eeth, T ake Nap Nap). The choice of shape is
referencing the telephone cup game, where conversation travels through distance. It also refers to
an older delivery system called pneumatic tube system, in which a complex network for objects
to travel. In between the two ends, there is a video playing in the mid-point. It is a compilation of
photos and videos of Pickle regularly sent from my parents. The sound of these videos travel
through the tube and are projected by the dog cone. The viewers are able to listen to the audio
from each end, but they would not understand the language unless they speak Cantonese - the
language my mother uses to talk to the dog. I want the viewer to feel the conversation rather than
listening to understand the conversation. My mother uses higher pitch and more musical rhythm
when she talks to Pickle, which is highly similar to talking to a young child. It is a distinguished
type of communication. While my mother tends to be more verbal, my father only sent me
photos of Pickle. Hence, there would be a moment of silence when only the photos are played.
Alongside with this main tube structure, there are other smaller tube structures that scatter
around the gallery. Some are going into the floor. Some are going through the wall. They move
around the space. In one of the smaller structures, intimate and taboo topics within familial
communication are brought up. It reveals the deeper emotional conflict and struggle that is
concealed or neglected by the roundtable conversation through the dog, addressing the turmoil
behind or conveyed by these dog videos.
31
Figure 12 & 13. A a i Z e Z e , S i k F a a n F a a n , C a a t N g a a N g a a , F a n G a a u G a a u,
( S a y h i h i , E a t F o o d F o o d , B r u s h T e e t h T e e t h , T a k e N a p N a p).
Video Installation by Qijun Liu, 2023. Photo of Work In Progress. Los Angeles.
32
Conclusion
In the paper, I tried to sort through some of the possible answers for why the roundabout
conversation happened and why the family dog became the center of the communication.
Although it happened within my personal family, I see many Chinese families has a similar
tendency, especially for diasporic families. It can be understood as establishing an emotional
triangle - the smallest stable unit - in a relationship. The hierarchical family structure has been
ingrained in Chinese culture: the relationship is asymmetrical in its nature. Besides, the idea of
filial piety established a set of discipline in parent-child interaction. I often feel obligated to
interact with them even though I do not have much to say or be intimidated to talk about intimate
feelings. However, Pickle being this liminal family member, eases the pressure of searching for a
topic. Everyone could channel their emotions and thoughts through Pickle. It also brings humor
and lighthearted feeling to the Chinese family, where humor is often absent. It is a liminal family
member who can occupy space inaccessible to traditional modes of analyzing thoughts, feelings,
and emotions, yet bridge the gaps between people, distance, and time. At the beginning of
working on the thesis, I see this way of communication as a lack of substance; however, when I
started to reflect more on the meaning of the dog in long-distance family communication, I
realized it is a delicate connection established in the parent-child relationship. Its ambiguity
seems to be a humorous rupture of our highly structured world.
33
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Abstract (if available)

Abstract The paper aims to suggest some of the potential causes of a particular parent-child communication approach within the Chinese context: a tendency to generate roundabout conversations around other things, which I have called a “liminal family member,” to maintain family interaction, especially within families that are physically separated. To analyze this parent-child interaction, I first look at the idea of filial piety engraved in Chinese minds, reflecting on the complex nature of the Chinese parent-child relationship. Then I explore the perception of humor in Chinese culture and its relation to family communication. Combining daily observations and research, the paper hypothesizes that the roundabout conversation develops through the synergy of filial piety and the lack of humor in Chinese families, among all other elements, and this tendency has served as a primary inspiration for artworks in my thesis show.

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University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses

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Asset Metadata

Creator Liu, Qijun (author)

Core Title Isn't Pickle so cute?

School Roski School of Art and Design

Degree Master of Fine Arts

Degree Program Fine Arts

Degree Conferral Date 2023-05

Publication Date 05/08/2023

Defense Date 05/08/2023

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag Chinese family communication,contemporary art,family communication,family pet,filial piety,humor,interspecies relationship,liminal family member,long-distance familial communication,OAI-PMH Harvest

Format theses (aat)

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor West, Jennifer (committee chair), Chang, Patty (committee member), Kelly, Mary (committee member)

Creator Email qijunliu@usc.edu,supersammmy@gmail.com

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-oUC113102936

Unique identifier UC113102936

Identifier etd-LiuQijun-11800.pdf (filename)

Legacy Identifier etd-LiuQijun-11800

Document Type Thesis

Format theses (aat)

Rights Liu, Qijun

Internet Media Type application/pdf

Type texts

Source 20230508-usctheses-batch-1039 (batch), University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Access Conditions The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the author, as the original true and official version of the work, but does not grant the reader permission to use the work if the desired use is covered by copyright. It is the author, as rights holder, who must provide use permission if such use is covered by copyright.

Repository Name University of Southern California Digital Library

Repository Location USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 2810, 3434 South Grand Avenue, 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, California 90089-2810, USA

Repository Email cisadmin@lib.usc.edu