Is representation ever truly possible?

Yung Chang's Up the Yangtze documents the changing dynamic of communities that are to be affected by the renovation of the Three Gorges Dam. He depicts the issue through the lives of Cindy and Jerry who work on a Western styled cruise ship that travels up the Yangtze to the dam. This documentary presents some issues with representation. It makes me question who is being represented in the film, who is being represented by China, and the choices Chang makes in representing this issue as a whole.


Chang uses a series of strategic juxtapositions throughout the film to heighten the sense of conflict and explore different sides. He definitely juxtaposes the Chinese workers on the cruise ship with the Westerners on the ship. To me the depiction of the Westerners seemed a bit narrow because they were all ignorant and "plump" and said things like the Chinese were "funny" and they were surprised by how developed the country was. At the same time the Chinese workers' education about the Westerners was also narrow and stereotypical. They were instructed to not be too humble and to avoid all serious conversation with Westerners and to never call them fat. I think what Chang is trying to help us to understand here is that different cultures have hard times understanding each other and it's easier to make blanket assumptions about another group rather than to be open minded and not categorize them.

I think Chang points to the difficulty of portraying other cultures. Chang even admits that it is hard for him to imagine or capture the old China his grandfather described to him as a boy. It is basically impossible to define a common view of a culture without causing a lot of erasure. I think Chang made very strategic decisions in choosing to view the issue of the Yangtze through a more privileged boy, Jerry and also through a very poor young girl, Cindy. However, we have to question if this is an encapsulating view of the effects the dam will have on all Chinese citizens. In Favro's "The Street Triumphant," he uses the image of a skyscraper to illustrate privileged views. Someone who sees the city from the roof of their penthouse does not have the same view of the city as someone who walks through its streets. Similarly, Chang being born in Canada doesn't give him the perspective of China that has grandfather would have had.

If representation is ever truly possible, it is accomplished through people representing themselves and creating their own narratives. In Cooper's "Voice From the South" this point is made evident in her demand for more African-American women to create a reflective narrative that is honest and impactful. However, in Chang's film we can clearly see some issues with the people speaking for themselves. Many of these lower class citizens seemed disenfranchised and expressed a sense of hopelessness about the dam issue. Some of the people he interviewed expressed that these matters should be left to the upper government and that they couldn't speak much on the issue. Others understood the bleakness of the situation and believed the dam project would benefit China but hurt many individuals. Maybe it is hard for us as Westerners to understand the futility of the situation and the emphasis on the wellbeing of the nation over the wellbeing of individuals.

So, is it ever truly possible to represent a group of people? You can get somewhat close but it is impossible to speak for an entire group. In defining gynocriticism in class, we noticed this dilemma. Women's literature very well represents women but mostly white and middle class women. It largely fails to represent women of other social classes and races. Even when one does represent themselves through literature, they are aware of their audience and produce bias by considering who will read their work and what the reader will think of them. Maybe it will never be truly possible to represent an entire group of people but Chang's "Up the Yangtze" is a starting point in understanding how the dam is displacing families and how the cruise plays a role in passively enjoying it.