Contemporary Chinese Cinema and Visual Culture

Sheldon Lu is Distinguished Professor of Comparative Literature at UC Davis, USA. He is the author and editor of more than a dozen books in English and Chinese. These include Chinese Modernity and Global Biopolitics: Studies in Literature and Visual Culture (2007), China, Transnational Visuality, Global Postmodernity (2001), and From Historicity to Fictionality: The Chinese Poetics of Narrative (1994). Chinese-Language Film: Historiography, Poetics, Politics (co-edited with Emilie Y. Y. Yeh, 2005) was named a Choice Outstanding Academic Title.

• Introduction: Refashioning the Nation in Transnational Cinema and Art Part 1: Nationhood, Gender, Sexuality, Masculinity in Feature Film 1.Projecting the Chinese Nation on Domestic and Global Screens2. Space, Mobility, Modernity: The Female Prostitute in Chinese-language Film3. Re-orientations of Hong Kong Cinema and Transformations of Masculinity4. Masculinity in Crisis: Male Characters in Jia Zhangke’s Films Part 2. Multimedia Engagements with the Local, National, and Global 5. Peripheral, Underground, and Independent Cinema 6. Performing and Romancing the Other in Film, Television Drama, and Ballet7. Reshaping Beijing’s Space: Architecture, Art, Photography, Film 8. Artistic and Multimedia Interventions Conclusion: Globalization at Bay Filmography BibliographyIndex

Sheldon Lu has contributed significantly to the study of Chinese language cinema, literature, and visual arts over the years, and initiated important concepts such as transnational cinema which has become an indispensable framework for scholars and students to look at Chinese cinema, world cinemas, and visual culture. His latest book covers a broad array of visual and artistic medium: film, painting, graffiti, photography, architecture, installation, performance and poetry. It is illustrated with photographs of artworks and stills from films which contribute to the understanding of the text. This book brings the subject matter alive and up to date, revealing the diversity and vibrancy of Chinese aesthetic culture for readers.