1st Edition

China in the Age of Global Capitalism Jia Zhangke's Filmic World

By Xiaoping Wang Copyright 2020
    220 Pages 54 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    220 Pages 54 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    Jia Zhangke is praised as “the most internationally prominent and celebrated figure of the Six-Generation of Chinese filmmakers”. This book provides an examination the content and forms of Jia’s featured films and analyzes their merits and faults.



    Jia’s films often narrate the lives of ordinary Chinese people against the backdrop of the political-economic changes. The author conducts an in-depth analysis of how this change have ferociously impinged upon the characters’ living conditions since China integrated itself with the world economy in the high tide of accelerated globalization since the 1970s. The author focuses on discussing the “politics of dignity” expressed by Jia’s allegorical renditions to explore the director’s political unconsciousness and cultural-political notions.



    This book maps ten of Jia Zhangke’s films onto three major themes: Jia’s filmmaking and China in the market society; truth claims and political unconscious; “post-socialist modernity” in the age of globalization. This book will be of interest to students and scholars of Chinese film studies, as well as other disciplines, such as political science, sociology, anthropology, etc.

    This book provides an examination of the content and forms ofJia Zhangke’s featured films and analyzes their merits and faults. It maps ten of his films onto three major themes: Jia’s filmmaking and China in the market society; truth claims and political unconscious; “post-socialist modernity” in the age of globalization. By analyzing Jia’s narrative strategies, the author strives to discuss the impact of the larger political economic changes on ordinary people in Jia’s films and the director’s cultural political notion. This book will certainly be of interest for students and scholars of Chinese film studies, political science, sociology, anthropology, etc.

    Biography

    Xiaoping Wang is Chair Professor of Chinese studies at Huaqiao University and adjunct professor of the Institute of Arts and Humanities at Shanghai Jiaotong University. His research interests include modern and contemporary Chinese literature, culture and critical theory.