'Once accused for the inertia of Chinese feudalism in responding to Western modernity, Confucianism has been attributed to the resurgence of East Asian economies a century later. From the proposition of ‘Asian Values’ by then Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew in the 1990s to the establishment of Confucius Institutes globally since 2004 by ironically the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the notions of deference to paternal authority, educational emphasis and family values, have been coined under the umbrella of Confucianism. Within the mediascapes, such notions are often used casually to explain the differences between ‘Asian’ and ‘Western’ media. This topic has been receiving scattered scholarly attention with discussions on the ideological relevance and presence of the discourses of Confucianism within the dramatic television texts (Zhu 2008; Kang and Kim 2011; Liew 2011; Dissanayake 2012). Such culturalist explanations still pervade despite the evolution of more complex media industries, communicative technologies and diverse audiences.' (Jocelyn Yi-Hsuan Lai and Liew Kai Khiun, Introduction)
'In an era in which comedians have been positioned as public commentators, a cycle of Australian television documentaries centres on the premise of a comedian’s investigation of a theme of existential significance. Produced for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, these series are Lawrence Leung’s Choose Your Own Adventure (2009), Judith Lucy’s Spiritual Journey (2011), Judith Lucy is All Woman (2015) and Luke Warm Sex (2016). This article examines the relationship between genre-mixing and cultural commentary in this cycle, which explores themes of life goals and identity, spirituality, gender and sex. Employing conventions of personalized documentary, these docucomedies use performance reflexively to highlight spectacle and explore the humour of awkward situations and contemporary and changing cultural values. Central to each series is the positioning of the comedian as commentator, central participant, therapeutic subject and performer. Using humour to address uncertainties about what is acceptable in today’s society, these docucomedies draw on traditions of Australian screen comedy and non-fiction representation to serve as public pedagogy about twenty-first-century concerns, from spirituality and mediated intimacy to pornography.' (Publication abstract)
