Overview

Since 1979, China has been undergoing a period of immense social and economic change, transitioning from state-run economics to free market capitalism. This book focuses on how the 'Reform Era' has been constructed in the work of the director Jia Zhangke, analysing the archetypal class figures of worker, peasant, soldier, intellectual and entrepreneur that are found in his films. Examining how these figures are represented, and how Jia's cinematography creates those 'structures of feeling' that concretise around a particular time and place, the book argues that Jia's cinema should be understood not just as narratives that represent Chinese social transition, but also as an effort to engage the audience's emotional responses through representation, symbolism and the affective experience of specific cinematic tropes. Making an important contribution to scholarship about the Reform Era, and opening up many new areas in the larger fields of Chinese visual culture, cultural studies and the affective qualities of film, this is groundbreaking work about a cinematic culture in a period of profound transformation.

Full Product Details

Author:   Corey Kai Nelson Schultz (Associate Professor, University of Nottingham Ningbo China)
Publisher:   Edinburgh University Press
Imprint:   Edinburgh University Press
Weight:   0.456kg
ISBN:  

9781474421614

ISBN 10:   147442161
Pages:   208
Publication Date:   05 June 2018
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Manufactured on demand  
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Table of Contents

List of FiguresAcknowledgments IntroductionApproach to FeelingClass in ChinaClass Figures and Their EffectsChapter Outlines Chapter 1 – The Worker Class: From Leader To The MarginsIntroductionHistory of the ClassRepresentationCinematic Tropes: Moving Portraits and Interviews Chapter 2 – The Peasant and the Mingong: From Empathy to Sympathy to Looking Back IntroductionHistory of the ClassRepresentation Cinematic Tropes: The POV Shot, Observation, Body, and the Gaze Chapter 3 – The Soldier: From Degraded Reproduction to Avenging HeroIntroductionHistory of the ClassRepresentationCinematic Tropes: Wuxia and The Close-Up Chapter 4 – The Intellectual: Power and the VoiceIntroductionHistory of the ClassRepresentationCinematic Tropes: Pseudomonologues and Observation Chapter 5 – The Entrepreneur: From Crook to ""New Reform Model""IntroductionHistory of the ClassRepresentationCinematic Tropes: Advertisements and the Close-Up FilmographyWorks CitedNotes

Reviews

An incisive and soundly researched contribution to the literature on Jia Zhangke. Schultz illuminates the class-based archetypes and affective structures of Jia's Reform-era cinema, offering a fresh way of thinking about one of China's most profoundly enigmatic filmmakers.--Gary Bettinson, Lancaster University

Author Information

Corey Kai Nelson Schultz is Associate Professor at the University of Nottingham Ningbo China. He received his PhD from Goldsmiths, University of London, and his research areas are Chinese visual culture, film phenomenology and aesthetics. He has published in Asian Cinema, Film-Philosophy, Moving Image Review and Art Journal, Screen and Visual Communication.

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