Journal of Global Trends in Social Science

Spatial Construction and Grassroots Willingness to Participate in Democracy

Haiyu Wang — 2024-12-16

In China, political participation exists as a mainstream understanding of democratic politics. There are many factors that influence citizens' willingness to participate, often pointing to some form of "space"， but few studies have explored the relevance of different forms of space to the willingness to participate in democracy. This study focuses on the grassroots space of NPC deputies' contact stations in China and utilizes data collected from 185 contact stations for empirical analysis. The study adopts the physical, interactional and digital spaces identified in established research and operationalizes their variable indicators, on the basis of which an analytical framework is constructed and hypotheses are formulated. The empirical results show that there is a significant positive correlation between the improvement of the three types of spatial conditions and the willingness to participate in grassroots democracy. It has been proved that promoting grassroots democratic participation willingness through spatial constructs has a positive performance. This study aims to make an empirical test to support the spatial examination of democratic participation and provide an understanding of the spatial construction of grassroots democracy in China.

Machine Learning-Based Search Strategy for Water Object Retrieval in Cultural Tourism Safety Contexts

Fujiang Yuan — 2025-04-30

This research addresses the challenge of predicting deviations in the landing positions of objects dropped into water, with important implica-tions for cultural tourism safety near lakes, rivers, and other natural attractions. An innovative optimization method for search strategies based on machine learning is proposed. A simulated dataset incorporating features such as drop height, water entry angle, drag coefficient, and object density enables detailed model comparisons. Five machine learning models—XGBoost, Random Forest, Decision Tree, Support Vector Machine (SVM), and Multi-Layer Perceptron (MLP)— are evaluated using Mean Squared Error (MSE), Mean Absolute Error (MAE), and the Coefficient of Determination. Experimental results show that XGBoost significantly outperforms the others, effectively capturing complex nonlinear relationships through its gradient boost-ing mechanism. In contrast, models like Decision Tree, SVM, and MLP exhibit lower predictive accuracy due to weaker generalization capabilities. This study provides a robust machine learning-based framework to enhance predictive accuracy and search efficiency in aquatic environments.

Adaptive Portfolio Optimization via PPO-HER

Jiahui Zhang — 2025-04-30

We propose PPO-HER, a novel reinforcement learning framework for adaptive portfolio optimization in non-stationary markets, which integrates Proximal Policy Optimization (PPO) with Hindsight Experience Replay (HER) to address sparse rewards and dynamic market conditions. The proposed method reformulates the portfolio optimization problem as a goal-conditioned Markov Decision Process, where the agent learns to reallocate assets by processing spatiotemporal market data through a Transformer-based actor network. The reward function combines logarithmic returns, risk penalties, and sparse bonuses, while HER relabels suboptimal trajectories to improve sample efficiency. Moreover, the architecture employs a TimeSformer for cross-asset attention and a GRU-based critic with spectral normalization to stabilize training. Experimental results demonstrate that PPO-HER outperforms conventional methods in terms of risk-adjusted returns, particularly during regime shifts detected by an auxiliary Changepoint-LSTM module. The framework is implemented using cuDNN-accelerated PyTorch, enabling efficient high-frequency trading with liquidity constraints. Our approach achieves state-of-the-art performance by explicitly modeling non-stationary dependencies and dynamically adjusting reward shaping based on realized volatility.

GRU-Enhanced Attention Mechanism for LSTM in Hybrid CNN-LSTM Models for Stock Prediction

Jiahui Zhang — 2025-03-31

We propose a novel GRU-enhanced attention mechanism integrated into LSTM layers to improve stock prediction accuracy in hybrid CNN-LSTM models. The proposed method dynamically adjusts the importance of different time steps by combining the strengths of GRUs and attention mechanisms, thereby capturing temporal dependencies more effectively in volatile financial time series. The GRU processes the input sequence to generate hidden states, which are then weighted by an attention mechanism to compute a context vector. This context vector is fed into the LSTM layer, enabling the model to focus on the most relevant time steps and enhance its ability to handle non-stationarity and noise. The integration of GRU-enhanced attention into LSTM allows the model to better capture long-term dependencies and temporal patterns, which are critical for accurate stock prediction. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed approach outperforms traditional methods in terms of prediction accuracy and robustness, particularly in scenarios with high market volatility. Furthermore, the model’s adaptability to varying time scales and its ability to filter out irrelevant information make it a promising tool for financial time series analysis. The proposed method not only advances the state-of-the-art in stock prediction but also provides a framework for integrating attention mechanisms into other sequential data tasks.

From Restriction to Rebalancing

Jiali Huang — 2025-03-31

The U.S. immigration policy during the Trump 2.0 era has intensified in terms of border security, management of illegal immigration, and restrictions on legal immigration, significantly impacting the economy, society, and international relations. The immigration policies during Trump's first term, which emphasized the "America First" agenda, included the construction of a border wall, travel bans, and the "zero tolerance" policy, all of which generated considerable controversy and legal challenges. Following adjustments made by the Biden administration, key policies such as the restoration of DACA, the revocation of the travel ban, and improvements in border management were implemented. However, the reintroduction of Trump 2.0 policies has reinforced border security and immigration restrictions, with proposals such as the abolition of birthright citizenship, the expansion of deportation efforts, and the tightening of legal immigration pathways. While these policies may reduce illegal immigration in the short term, they could have long-term adverse effects on the U.S. labor market, economic competitiveness, and social stability. Moreover, the Trump 2.0 policies may strain U.S.-Mexico relations, undermine U.S. leadership in global humanitarian issues, and reduce its attractiveness in the international talent competition. The success or failure of Trump 2.0 immigration policies will hinge on their ability to balance border security, economic development, and social stability.

The possibility of industrializing the convergence of artificial intelligence and cinematic video content—Centered on the Korean AIGC short films “One More Pumpkin” and “Doomsday Bubble”

Jun Deng — 2025-02-28

With the rapid development of modern science and technology, artificial intelligence is applied to various fields of the film industry, which has a significant impact on film production and film algorithm aesthetics. The change of artificial intelligence on the movie production process is mainly reflected in the pre-planning, scene design, live shooting and post editing. Artificial intelligence technology can not only optimize the film production process, reduce costs and improve quality, but also provide new creative tools for art workers and promote the film industry to intelligent transformation and upgrading. This paper adopts the case study method and literature review method, focusing on the application case of AIGC technology in film in South Korea, and discusses in depth the use of AIGC in film production, the changes to the film production process, and the social and artistic problems faced. Film production in the AI environment should focus on the subjective position of “human” in film creation, and AI should be used as a tool. This study aims to identify the trends of AI technology, gain insights into its impact on film production, reveal the factors, roots and effects of AI-driven development of the film industry, and explore new trends in the film industry. It explores the application of AIGC cutting-edge technologies and provides a new direction for the intelligent transformation and upgrading of the film industry.

Construction of an Evaluation Index System for Construction-Related Interdisciplinary Technical Talents

Yue Chen — 2025-04-30

Amid the technological revolution and industrial transformation, the construction industry is accelerating digitalization, green transition, and internationalization, driving the need for versatile technical talent. Traditional evaluation systems, focused solely on technical skills, are no longer sufficient. This study constructs a multidimensional evaluation framework for composite construction professionals, covering hard skills, soft skills, cross-disciplinary capabilities, and sustainable knowledge. It integrates advanced competencies such as BIM model-ing, AI tools, and carbon emission calculations, alongside ESG report-ing, interdisciplinary collaboration, and emerging fields like circular economy and carbon trading. By applying data-driven methods to determine indicator weights and benchmarks, the framework offers a scientific, dynamic approach adaptable to corporate recruitment, academic training, and career planning. Through practical feedback, the system undergoes iterative optimization. The study also proposes graduate education reforms, including curriculum adjustments, practical training enhancement, and evaluation updates, emphasizing closer industry-academia collaboration. By addressing limitations of traditional evaluations, this framework provides theoretical and practical guidance for cultivating composite talent, supporting sustainable development in the construction sector.

Research on The Correlation between Investments in Various Industries Based on Regression Model

Jia Gao — 2025-04-30

As China transitions to high-quality economic development, industrial structure adjustment has become crucial. Government investment, as a key tool of macroeconomic regulation, plays an important role in guiding industrial upgrading, optimizing resource allocation, promoting growth, and expanding employment. This study analyzes the relation-ship between industry-specific investment and GDP to provide a scientific basis for investment allocation. Using industry GDP data from 1990 to 2023, issues such as outliers, missing values, and unit inconsistencies were addressed to ensure data integrity. Pearson correlation analysis revealed that sectors such as industry, construction, manufacturing, finance, IT services, education, and healthcare are strongly linked to GDP growth. Based on the characteristics of each sector, linear or nonlinear regression models were developed to quantify investment impact. Under a total government investment constraint of 1 trillion yuan, an optimized investment plan was proposed using optimization algorithms like fmincon to maximize GDP. Analysis of historical investment proportions showed rising shares for IT services and finance, while agriculture and textiles declined. The findings demonstrate that scientific planning and optimized investment can effectively support industrial upgrading, improve resource efficiency, and promote sustainable economic growth and employment.

A Study on the Dilemma and Countermeasures of Digital Technology-enabled Villages in the Context of Domestic Ageing

Jiaqi Chen — 2025-03-31

The digital economy is developing rapidly, but the problem of digital divide is becoming more and more prominent due to the weak foundation of informa-tisation of the elderly. Comprehensively promoting the common prosperity of farmers and rural areas is not only to achieve material prosperity, but also to achieve spiritual prosperity. This investigation adopts a variety of re-search methods, including literature research, questionnaire survey and data analysis, to take the functioning of villagers' service centres as a fur-ther breakthrough point, to explore the important role of villagers' service centres in building a digital inclusive society in the countryside, to help the elderly not only to overcome the digital difficulties in their lives, but also to enjoy the dividends of digital technology, to achieve healthy aging empow-ered by digital technology, and to enhance the sense of access, happiness , and sense of security.

Communication Practice and Challenges of the Africans in Guangzhou Issues on Chinese Social Media Platforms

Xiao Cui — 2025-09-30

This study examines the communication practices and challenges surround-ing the “Africans in Guangzhou” issue on Chinese social media through the lens of field theory, using big data–assisted online content analysis to inves-tigate discourse construction, emotional tendencies, and cognitive logics while identifying obstacles in information flows. Drawing on 62,877 valid data points collected from Sina Weibo, WeChat, and Zhihu between October 2009 and January 2024, the analysis shows that the issue generated a multi-the-matic framework dominated by negative discourse and consolidated a nega-tive “emotional community.” In this process, patriotism and racism became intertwined, and cultural conflict and identity were mutually articulated, pro-ducing a complex dynamic of transmission. Concurrently, poor information flow, the generalization of noise, and the agitation of influence flows intensi-fied the complexity and uncertainty of the public opinion field concerning China–Africa relations. The formation of issue-related habits and representa-tions is shown to arise from the interplay of political, cultural, economic, and technological capital, together with external threat power, within the field; ad-dressing these challenges requires collaborative governance across these forces to build a healthier relational network.

The Revival of Music and Dance Culture of Hunan Ancestors in the Age of Digital Intelligence

Chengcheng Zhao — 2025-06-30

In the context of the era when digital intelligence technology deeply empowers cultural inheritance, the ancient music and dance culture of Hunan, as an important living legacy of Chinese civilisation, is in urgent need of creative transformation through digital transformation. This paper explores the revival path of Hunan culture from the three dimensions of building a digital resource base, reshaping artistic expression through technological integration, and new media communication innovation. The study shows that artificial intelligence and big data technology can systematically preserve multimodal cultural data, virtual reality (VR) and generative adversarial network (GAN) technology can innovate artistic expressions, and short video platforms and digital exhibitions can effectively expand the boundaries of global communication. Through digital intelligence, Hunan culture has not only achieved living heritage, but has also become an important link in forging the sense of community of the Chinese nation.

Culture in Technology, Technology in Culture

Langqing Chen — 2025-07-31

This study takes Generative Artificial Intelligence (AIGC) as a technological pivot to investigate its empowering mechanisms and pathways of cultural representation in the IP image design of Qiqiao culture, a form of Chinese intangible cultural heritage. By analyzing core cultural symbols such as the "Weaving Maiden" and "craftsmanship" associated with the Qiqiao Festival, and integrating the prompt-based generation logic and image construction capabilities of advanced diffusion models, the research proposes a five-stage design framework: cultural theme extraction–model training–image generation–visual refinement–media dissemination. Empirical practices conducted on platforms such as “MiduDream” demonstrate that AIGC not only improves the creative efficiency of traditional IP imagery but also expands the boundaries of Qiqiao culture’s digital communication. Moreover, from a techno-cultural perspective, the study critically examines the encoding and disciplining mechanisms of cultural meaning embedded in AIGC generation processes, highlighting that while algorithmic expression enhances visual appeal, it also risks cultural superficiality and symbolic entertainment. Finally, the article outlines future research directions focusing on algorithmic localization, immersive experience construction, and co-creation mechanisms. The findings provide a replicable methodology that integrates cultural depth with technological efficiency for the design of intangible cultural heritage IP images.

Imagining Gender Equality

Zhuo Liu — 2025-06-30

The perspective on equality from a feminist viewpoint is proposed based on revealing the unequal patriarchal social structure. It explains the inequality of the patriarchal system from two aspects: temporal inequality and structural inequality. Based on this, the feminist perspective on equality deepens the understanding of the dynamics between the sexes in the process of transitioning from a formal view of equality to a substantive view of equality. However, when faced with internal divisions within feminism and the impact of external environments, the existing feminist perspective on equality reveals shortcomings such as being overly abstract, lacking representativeness, and not being inclusive. By constructing a model of four types of gender relations, this approach analyzes and critiques the existing feminist perspective on equality while expanding its modes of expression and value connotations, further elevating it to an inclusive, open, free, dynamic, and unique collection of equality values.

"The Children of Heaven" as a Cultural Mirror

Bingtao Xu — 2025-07-31

Following the Iranian New Wave and the Islamic Revolution, Iranian filmmakers established a distinct tradition of children's film. Iranian films began to gain international recognition, being screened at prestigious film festivals and winning various awards. This article explores the emergence of children's film in Iran post-New Wave, examining its unique characteristics. It also delves into how Iranian children's films address ethnicity through themes, narratives, and filmtic language, using The Children of Heaven as a case study. The rise of Iranian children's film has highlighted a key observation: what is national can also be global. In the context of globalization and the dominance of Western aesthetics as the standard, Iranian filmmakers have successfully crafted films that preserve national identity while appealing to a broader audience. This approach offers valuable insights for contemporary Chinese film.

“Rooster Coop” and “Jungle”

Wufeng Lei — 2025-05-31

Aravind Adiga’s The White Tiger critically exposes the contradictions of India’s postcolonial modernization through three key dimensions. The first, symbolized by the “Rooster Coop”, reveals how entrenched caste hierarchies undermine India’s democratic politics, turning elections into rituals that maintain systemic inequality. The second dimension examines the alienation of subaltern agency, illustrating how freedom is entangled with violence and moral ambiguity in a society governed by brutal “jungle laws”.The third centers on Balram’s self-narrative as a “half-baked” reflection of India’s fractured modernity, caught between feudal legacies and neoliberal aspirations. Through the protagonist’s fractured journey, Adiga exposes a deeper crisis in political modernity: when democratic institutions are transplanted without dismantling structural inequalities, democracy becomes a hollow formalism that legitimizes structural violence rather than emancipates. This critique transcends the Indian context, offering a cautionary message for all societies attempting democratization without addressing the foundational demands of justice and equality.

Rivers as Media

Meng Wang — 2025-04-30

Rivers, through their interaction with humanity, have shaped human civilization. The political significance of rivers as boundaries has long been overshadowed by their practical uses and aesthetic values, receiving limited scholarly attention. Spanning China’s east and west, the Erguna River in the northeast and the Irtysh River in Xinjiang serve as key border rivers. As border rivers, they share frontier attributes and symbolize the negotiation between natural order and political boundaries. Their differing roles, influenced by unique natural features and relational actors, create diverse spatial dynamics. Cross-border rivers mediate China’s relationships with neighboring countries and subtly reshape global geopolitical patterns. This highlights their mediatory significance, capacity for spatial transformation, and nuanced relationships with human societies, neighboring countries, and the broader world.

A Corpus-assisted Discourse Analysis of the American and British Media Reports on the Discharge of Water from Fukushima

Tiantian Li — 2025-05-31

The Japanese government’s announcement to discharge over a million tons of clean but still radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean has aroused substantial attention and has been extensively reported by media outlets worldwide. This study aims to shed light on how the American media and the British media differ in constructing the discourse in terms of linguistic choices and functional features. AntConc 3.5.9 is used to analyze keywords and collocates. UAM Corpus Tool 6.2j is employed to annotate the texts and conduct transitivity analysis. Our study finds that the American media tend to convey a mix of assurance, confidence, and endorsement towards the implementation of the water release. The British media appear to present factual information including the details of the water processing, the environmental consequences of the water release, and the concerns of other Asian countries.

The Influence Mechanism and Promotion Path of The China Film Golden Rooster Awards on Xiamen's City Image

Yanling Wang — 2025-08-30

The Golden Rooster Awards, China’s premier film accolade, has been held in Xiamen for many years, integrating the city’s material, spiritual, and cultural dimensions while enhancing its aesthetic appeal. The event serves as a vital platform for showcasing and promoting Xiamen’s image. Its continued presence has not only created new opportunities for the development of Xiamen’s film industry but has also offered fresh perspectives on promoting and shaping the city’s cultural identity, paving the way for Xiamen to gradually establish itself as a city of film.To build the City of Cinema cultural brand, it is essential to capitalize on the long-term presence of the Golden Rooster Awards in Xiamen. Efforts should be concentrated on key sectors of the film industry—such as content creation, post-production, operational management, and talent cultivation—in order to establish a new model of industrial development in which cinema drives urban growth and film festivals stimulate creative production.

Logic and Path of China's Regional Economic Disparities

Ruyi Zeng — 2025-08-30

This article employs the theories of institutional change, factor flow and technological innovation to deeply analyze the formation mechanism of regional economic disparities in China. Research shows that regional differences in institutional flexibility, obstacles to the flow of factors, and the gradient distribution of technological innovation jointly lead to the imbalance in regional development. By sorting out regional economic data and policy practices, a coordinated development path of building an elastic institutional environment, eliminating barriers to factor flow, and improving the diffusion mechanism of technological innovation is proposed, providing theoretical support for promoting balanced regional economic development.

"Front" of Urban-Rural Cultural Neighborhood Communication

Na Liu — 2025-08-30

To delve into the predicaments in urban-rural cultural integration, analyze the underlying essential issues, and explore paths and strategies for advancing the equalization of urban-rural public cultural services, this paper, in combination with the Neighborhood Communication Theory, proposes an "Institution-Technology-Society" three-dimensional analytical framework. It examines the communication mechanisms, spatial production, and governance models in the process of urban-rural cultural integration, and reveals the interactions among the three.The study finds that although the urban-rural dual structure is gradually dissolving, obstacles to the flow of cultural identity and emotional identity still exist, leading to a widening gap between urban and rural cultures. Through institutional innovation and digital technology empowerment, urban and rural cultures can break through geographical and institutional restrictions to achieve cross-boundary flow, promoting the gradual integration of cultures. Moreover, the equalization of urban-rural public cultural services is an important foundation for advancing urban-rural integration. Only through multi-dimensional cooperation in institutional design, technical support, and social interaction, and by enabling township public cultural spaces to exert a "front effect", can true urban-rural cultural integration be achieved.

Social Media Network Structure

Xiangwu Lai — 2025-08-30

All kinds of social media accounts in China have formed a network with multiple subjects, large scale, complex structure, and diverse functions, becoming the main supplier of information for society. What are its core nodes and main communication channels, and how can overall communication efficiency be improved? These questions guide the analysis of China’s current social media communication. Using the highly recognizable information of the COVID-19 pandemic, this study tracks and analyzes communication effects and paths, and examines structural characteristics from the perspective of complexity theory. The findings show that in China’s complex social media network, traditional mainstream media and accounts hosted by party and government organizations are the most important communication nodes, whose linkage provides a framework function. During the static management of Xi’an and Shanghai, the communication structure exhibited three-point and four-point models, centered on local and central mainstream media accounts. Therefore, this study proposes improving the efficiency and quality of communication by optimizing the network structure, repositioning the roles of mainstream media and government accounts, and adjusting their responsibilities and powers, so as to enhance the network’s functions in information dissemination, public opinion guidance, social mobilization, and information purification.

The Historical Context and Realist Orientation of Erich Auerbach's Figural Interpretation (Figura)

Shanshan Yang — 2025-07-31

In the 1930s, Erich Auerbach, exiled amid Nazi antisemitism and Aryan philology, revived the Latin-patristic concept of figura: a historical-grammatical method connecting Old Testament prophecy to New Testament fulfilment. In contrast to the prevailing pure philology of the period, figural interpretation embraced a teleological view of history, transforming Hebrew scripture from narrowly Jewish law into a cultural bridge linking everyday reality and transcendental redemption. This article argues that Auerbach’s figural interpretation constitute not merely a philological method but a cultural-political theory consciously devised to defend Judeo-Christian humanism and redefine Western literary realism. By tracing the concept’s patristic origins, examining its wartime deployment against Nazi ideology, and highlighting its role in Mimesis—where mixture of styles elevates ordinary experience into the primary measure of literary realism—the article demonstrates figural interpretation as a threefold intellectual strategy: sharpening historical insight, confronting cultural-political crises, and innovating literary criticism.

An Interpretation of Aristophanes’ Eulogy in Plato’s Symposium

Miaohui Wu — 2025-07-31

Plato’s Symposium centers on the praise of the god of love, Eros, bringing together various perspectives on desire from prominent Greek intellectuals. Among them, Aristophanes’ encomium stands out for its mythopoetic expression, reflecting the comic poet’s profound insight into human nature, society, and politics. Through the allegory of spherical humans split in half by Zeus, Aristophanes suggests that desire originates from humanity’s longing for an original state of wholeness. This eros is not merely a response to bodily trauma, but also a yearning for self-identity and the unity of the soul.

The article further reveals that Aristophanes attributes higher value to love between men, thereby reflecting the interconnection between political ideals and gender order in ancient Greek society. Moreover, by analyzing rhetorical devices, temporal structure, and the redemptive function of Eros, the paper explores the mechanisms of irony and metaphysical symbolism embedded in Aristophanes’ speech. Love, in this view, is not only an expression of emotion and desire, but also a philosophical response to the fractures within the self and the ruptures of history. As a comic poet, Aristophanes deftly employs humor and myth to construct eros as a complex structure that traverses the domains of nature, ontology, society, and power.

Visualizing the Spatial Network of Cultural Heritage Based on Spatial Genes

Huizhen Chen — 2025-07-31

Grounded in the theoretical framework of spatial genes, this study focuses on 51 core heritage elements of Kulangsu to explore multi-dimensional visualization approaches for the spatial network of cultural heritage. Through systematic analysis across four dimensions—construction period, architectural function, stylistic features, and spatial layout—time-series maps and spatial distribution maps were constructed. These maps reveal the characteristics of spatial genes underlying Kulangsu's evolution from an indigenous settlement to an international community. Combined with a "point-line-plane" hierarchical identification, a heritage spatial network structure encompassing historical, social, and cultural values was established and visualized to demonstrate its integrity and diversity. The research demonstrates that the identification of spatial genes and their multi-dimensional visualization of Kulangsu's core heritage elements can effectively elucidate its historical evolution and cultural significance. Future work requires continuous improvement in data precision enhancement, multi-stakeholder collaboration, and public participation mechanisms to enhance the scientific rigor and communicative efficacy of cultural heritage spatial representation, thereby better serving heritage conservation and revitalization practices.

Research on the High-Skilled Labor and Identity Construction of Video Creative Workers

Jing Shu — 2025-07-31

Why are mid-video creative workers willing to produce content on Bilibili even if the earnings are not high? This is the starting point of research thinking. This paper takes the cultural production practice of UP hosts as an example and finds that the platform attempts to eliminate the instability of labor through control strategies such as interface design, creation incentives, algorithmic streaming, and incubating accounts. The "high skill" of creative work and the non-standardization of the production model explain both the endogenous logic of the platform's "income does not cover income" and the premise of creators' "consent" for generating "love". The high threshold of users' consumption of video forces creators to "compete" in skills, highlighting the subjectivity of workers while forming "identity games", a form of labor control that is different from the previous "de-skillization". The labor-capital conflict conceals the "symbiotic relationship" of checks and dependencies among platforms, creators and users, which not only weakens the degree of labor control of platform capital, but also provides implications for understanding the diversified platform ecosystem and expanding the theory of the labor process.

Visual Symbols

Xiaopei Qin — 2025-06-30

As an audio-visual art, the visual symbols presented in the film have always been the focus of research and attention. In addition to discussing the details of the visual presentation of the film itself, it is more important to interpret and explain the cultural expression contained in the visual symbols. In the new era and new context, the Silk Road culture has been vigorously promoted and publicized, and many excellent literary and artistic works have been produced. "Chang'an" is one of the representative works. Based on the visual symbols presented in the film "Chang'an", this paper will analyze the intertextual connotations hidden behind it from the perspective of deconstructionism, and explain the value expression of the overall Silk Road culture.

The Flux and Reflections of Female Consciousness in the Taiwanese Film Little Big Women

Tsun Wong — 2025-06-30

Film, as a unique art form, profoundly conveys the essence of thought, story line, perceptual experience, emotional resonance and aesthetic pursuit through the presentation of moving images. In today's society, film-watching activities not only carry the function of leisure and entertainment, but also become an important communication channel for the director's ideological views and emotional tendencies. At the same time, the feedback mechanism of the film box office also provides us with a valuable window to understand the hot issues in society and the tendency of people's interest, which in turn helps us to grasp the pulse of social change. Taking the 2020 Taiwan box office champion Little Big Women as an example, this paper focuses on the portrayal and evolution of its female image, revealing the remarkable transformation trajectory from the ‘unawakened traditional woman’ to the ‘compatible woman struggling in the traditional framework’ to the ‘new woman seeking independence and freedom’. to ‘new women seeking independence and freedom’. This process of transformation clearly presents the transmutation of identity and the awakening of subjective consciousness of three generations of Taiwanese women in the current of the times, which not only provides a localised and vivid case study for the study of contemporary feminist cinema, but also profoundly reflects the complex interactions between the loosening of patriarchal structures and the awakening of local gender consciousness in Taiwanese society.

The Scars of Memory, the Trap of Desire, and the Mirror of Class

Ying Ma — 2025-01-27

Bong Joon-ho's films are renowned for their profound revelation and critique of South Korean social realities. This paper interprets the social allegories in Bong Joon-ho's films, such as Parasite, Memories of Murder, Snowpiercer, The Host, and Mother, through the lens of the scars of memory, the trap of desire, and the mirror of class. The films touch upon the collective "scars of memory" of the Korean people, demonstrating the historical causes and social impact of the "Han" cultural psychology through metaphors and representations of historical traumatic events. Employing Lacan's psychoanalytic theory, this paper analyzes the "trap of desire" – the alienation of characters in the context of capitalism, revealing the anxiety and loss of the lower class in the pursuit of the "ideal self." Furthermore, these films construct a "mirror of class" that reflects the solidification of social hierarchy and the disparity between the rich and the poor in South Korean society by depicting the living conditions of different classes. Bong Joon-ho's cinematic allegories are not only artistic representations of social issues in South Korea but also provide profound insights into understanding the universal problems of class conflict, human alienation, and historical memory in contemporary society.

The Mediating Role of Teacher Support in The Relationship between Marginalization and Academic Performance among Migrant Children in China

Linyi Zhang — 2025-01-27

Migrant children are a special group in the process of China's economic development. They not only linger on the edge of unequal educational opportunities but are also marginalized in schools. Using data from the China Education Panel Survey (CEPS), a nationally representative sample of junior high school students, the study attempts to examine the relationship between migrant children's marginalization and academic achievement and check the moderating role of teacher support in this relationship. The results show that positive teacher support has a negative moderating effect on the marginalization of migrant children. When teachers take a positive and supportive attitude toward socially marginalized students, the marginalized children are more integrated within their peer groups over time. The more actively teachers support migrant children, the more they can reduce the probability of migrant children being marginalized. Teacher support also has a positive impact on migrant children's social behavioral development and academic performance to a large extent. The positive attitude of teachers enables migrant children, a marginalized group, to have stronger school adaptability and a more positive development direction of social behavior and academic performance.

Cultural Intermediaries and Cosmopolitans

Yongzi Liu — 2024-12-16

This article analyzes the symbolic power and locations of travel bloggers in the global cultural economy by linking the theories and approaches of cultural intermediaries, cosmopolitanism and tourist studies. Drawing on netnographic methodology and narrative analysis of Chinese social media accounts, this article further examines how travel bloggers convert world landscapes and self-presentations into mediascapes providing consumable content as well as life-styles for local audiences. A Chinese perspective is contributed by having the discussion connecting travel with other mobilities. We propose that the travel bloggers and their productions are the evidence of cultural traveling and transformation.