Luo Feng, Professor; and Zhang Pei, Doctoral Candidate, School of Journalism and Communication, Anhui University
In the context of actively constructing an independent knowledge system, the most pressing task for documentary research may be to shift focus toward more immediate and practical issues. The core of building a “Chinese School” of Chinese documentaries lies in the deep refinement of indigenous experiences and proactive responses to contemporary issues. As we strive to construct a Chinese - characteristic independent knowledge system, breaking down disciplinary silos and rebuilding documentary criticism that is closely connected to social reality has become an urgent priority. The following paths may enable breakthroughs in indigenous research of Chinese documentaries:
First, it is essential to fully recognize the subjectivity of documentary practitioners within the industry. As early as 2011, Chen Yi proposed conducting a sociological examination of the media content production process from a cultural sociology perspective. However, this research path has not been fully embraced by the domestic academic community. Studies such as “Public Taste, Peer Observation, and Festival Favor: A Report on the Value Identification Issues of Contemporary Chinese Documentarians” by Li Xiaofeng and Jia Kai, and “The Labor of ‘Taking Jobs’: An Anthropological Examination of Freelance Documentary Makers,” “From ‘Intellectuals’ to ‘Cultural Workers’: The Professional Transformation of Chinese Documentary Workers over Four Decades,” and “The Proposal Ritual and Cultural Performance of Documentary Makers” by Feng Rui, have provided a realistic perspective on the living conditions and professional difficulties of documentary practitioners both within and outside the system. These studies, rich in humanistic concern, not only offer first - hand empirical materials for further examination of the documentary industry but also build a bridge for communication between academia and the industry.
Second, documentary consumption in the new era is another area that has long been neglected in academic research. In the age of mass communication, documentaries have generally focused on functions such as political propaganda, social monitoring, cultural dissemination, and industrial revenue. However, with the advent of deep media integration and artificial intelligence technology, documentaries have entered a new era of narrative. New phenomena such as external communication, science popularization, social mobilization, cultural curation, film and television promotion, aesthetic education, and online marketing all require solid empirical research to pay attention to and respond to.
Finally, addressing issues related to documentary production and consumption requires the support of interdisciplinary theoretical resources and methods. In the current digital age, as digital civilization reconstructs the image ecology, algorithm - based recommendation systems deconstruct traditional viewing habits, and virtual production technology reshapes the boundaries of documentary aesthetics, the research paradigm previously based on textual analysis is becoming increasingly inadequate. Only by achieving an epistemological breakthrough from “text-dependent” to “problem- oriented,” discarding long-standing theoretical inertia, and building a documentary academic system that responds to reality, can we reverse the passive situation of “theoretical input” in the international academic field and ultimately realize the long-term goal of constructing a “Chinese School of Documentary Studies.”
Published on August 21, 2025