Yingjin Zhang
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- November 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780824833374
- eISBN:
- 9780824870584
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Hawai'i Press
- DOI:
- 10.21313/hawaii/9780824833374.001.0001
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Asian Studies
This book proposes “polylocality” as a new conceptual framework for investigating the shifting spaces of contemporary Chinese cinema in the age of globalization. Questioning the national cinema ...
More
This book proposes “polylocality” as a new conceptual framework for investigating the shifting spaces of contemporary Chinese cinema in the age of globalization. Questioning the national cinema paradigm, the book calls for comparative studies of underdeveloped areas beyond the imperative of transnationalism. It begins by addressing theories and practices related to space, place, and polylocality in contemporary China before focusing on the space of scholarship and urging scholars to move beyond the current paradigm and explore transnational and comparative film studies. This is followed by a chapter that concentrates on the space of production and surveys the changing landscape of postsocialist filmmaking and the transformation of China's urban generation of directors. Next is an examination of the space of polylocality and the cinematic mappings of Beijing and a persistent “reel” contact with polylocality in hinterland China. The fifth chapter explores the space of subjectivity in independent film and video and contextualizes experiments by young directors with various documentary styles. Chapter 6 calls attention to the space of performance and addresses issues of media and mediation by way of two kinds of playing: the first with documentary as troubling information, the second with piracy as creative intervention. The concluding chapter offers an overview of Chinese cinema in the new century and provides production and reception statistics.Less
This book proposes “polylocality” as a new conceptual framework for investigating the shifting spaces of contemporary Chinese cinema in the age of globalization. Questioning the national cinema paradigm, the book calls for comparative studies of underdeveloped areas beyond the imperative of transnationalism. It begins by addressing theories and practices related to space, place, and polylocality in contemporary China before focusing on the space of scholarship and urging scholars to move beyond the current paradigm and explore transnational and comparative film studies. This is followed by a chapter that concentrates on the space of production and surveys the changing landscape of postsocialist filmmaking and the transformation of China's urban generation of directors. Next is an examination of the space of polylocality and the cinematic mappings of Beijing and a persistent “reel” contact with polylocality in hinterland China. The fifth chapter explores the space of subjectivity in independent film and video and contextualizes experiments by young directors with various documentary styles. Chapter 6 calls attention to the space of performance and addresses issues of media and mediation by way of two kinds of playing: the first with documentary as troubling information, the second with piracy as creative intervention. The concluding chapter offers an overview of Chinese cinema in the new century and provides production and reception statistics.
Yingjin Zhang
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- November 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780824833374
- eISBN:
- 9780824870584
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Hawai'i Press
- DOI:
- 10.21313/hawaii/9780824833374.003.0001
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Asian Studies
This book examines contemporary Chinese cinema and culture in terms of space and polylocality by focusing on “stories-so-far.” It explores distinctive threads in a multitude of these “stories-so-far” ...
More
This book examines contemporary Chinese cinema and culture in terms of space and polylocality by focusing on “stories-so-far.” It explores distinctive threads in a multitude of these “stories-so-far” concerning cinema, space, and polylocality in a globalizing China. These stories are seen through the abstraction of theoretical discourses, projected through imagination and technology on the screen, circulated through an array of spaces and places at different geographic scales, and received through negotiation in the experiential realm of everyday life. This introductory chapter considers theories of space, place, locality, and globalization that inform the book's discussion on trans/national cinema, the spaces of production and reception, the remapping of the city and polylocality, subjectivities and modes of independent filmmaking, performative documentaries, and piracy as intervention, as well as glocal, transnational market dynamics.Less
This book examines contemporary Chinese cinema and culture in terms of space and polylocality by focusing on “stories-so-far.” It explores distinctive threads in a multitude of these “stories-so-far” concerning cinema, space, and polylocality in a globalizing China. These stories are seen through the abstraction of theoretical discourses, projected through imagination and technology on the screen, circulated through an array of spaces and places at different geographic scales, and received through negotiation in the experiential realm of everyday life. This introductory chapter considers theories of space, place, locality, and globalization that inform the book's discussion on trans/national cinema, the spaces of production and reception, the remapping of the city and polylocality, subjectivities and modes of independent filmmaking, performative documentaries, and piracy as intervention, as well as glocal, transnational market dynamics.
Yingjin Zhang
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- November 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780824833374
- eISBN:
- 9780824870584
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Hawai'i Press
- DOI:
- 10.21313/hawaii/9780824833374.003.0004
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Asian Studies
This chapter examines the cinematic representations of Beijing and a persistent engagement with polylocality in hinterland China. More specifically, it considers “cinematic remapping” as a particular ...
More
This chapter examines the cinematic representations of Beijing and a persistent engagement with polylocality in hinterland China. More specifically, it considers “cinematic remapping” as a particular mode of urban imaginary that combines motion, emotion, and commotion in an intensified, often visceral representation of temporality, spatiality, locality, inequality, identity, and subjectivity. Focusing on moving images, the chapter explores instances of cinematic remapping that favor street-level views over cartographic surveys, contingent experience over systematic knowledge, and bittersweet local histoires over a grand-scale global history. The chapter first surveys the imaginaries of Beijing in Hollywood history before discussing four Chinese films set in Beijing and released in the new millennium. It also analyzes Jia Zhangke's most recent works as place-based projects grounded in polylocality and critical of the trappings of modernity and globalization.Less
This chapter examines the cinematic representations of Beijing and a persistent engagement with polylocality in hinterland China. More specifically, it considers “cinematic remapping” as a particular mode of urban imaginary that combines motion, emotion, and commotion in an intensified, often visceral representation of temporality, spatiality, locality, inequality, identity, and subjectivity. Focusing on moving images, the chapter explores instances of cinematic remapping that favor street-level views over cartographic surveys, contingent experience over systematic knowledge, and bittersweet local histoires over a grand-scale global history. The chapter first surveys the imaginaries of Beijing in Hollywood history before discussing four Chinese films set in Beijing and released in the new millennium. It also analyzes Jia Zhangke's most recent works as place-based projects grounded in polylocality and critical of the trappings of modernity and globalization.
Yingjin Zhang
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- November 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780824833374
- eISBN:
- 9780824870584
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Hawai'i Press
- DOI:
- 10.21313/hawaii/9780824833374.003.0006
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Asian Studies
This chapter examines questions of media and mediation in Chinese independent films in a reception context of polylocality where domestic neglect contrasts with overseas celebration. It argues that ...
More
This chapter examines questions of media and mediation in Chinese independent films in a reception context of polylocality where domestic neglect contrasts with overseas celebration. It argues that we must approach the contemporary Chinese independent documentary as a troubling case of information. The case is troubling not only because certain types of intended information may trouble age-old normative concepts in Chinese culture and society, but also because the status of images and information in Chinese independent documentaries raises critical questions regarding interpretation, access, mediation, ethics, affect, and agency. The chapter analyzes the 2001 documentary The Box to bring the issue of performance into critical scrutiny and challenge the conventional framework of truth and reality. It also considers film piracy in China, with particular emphasis on the production of alternative meanings through the “pirated” intertextuality in recent Chinese independent filmmaking.Less
This chapter examines questions of media and mediation in Chinese independent films in a reception context of polylocality where domestic neglect contrasts with overseas celebration. It argues that we must approach the contemporary Chinese independent documentary as a troubling case of information. The case is troubling not only because certain types of intended information may trouble age-old normative concepts in Chinese culture and society, but also because the status of images and information in Chinese independent documentaries raises critical questions regarding interpretation, access, mediation, ethics, affect, and agency. The chapter analyzes the 2001 documentary The Box to bring the issue of performance into critical scrutiny and challenge the conventional framework of truth and reality. It also considers film piracy in China, with particular emphasis on the production of alternative meanings through the “pirated” intertextuality in recent Chinese independent filmmaking.
