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9781604979756

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A much-needed study--the first book of its kind. Wendy Larson, a leading expert on modern Chinese culture, combines historical context, methodological sophistication, and close reading. Zhang Yimou has long been a central figure in post-Maoist culture and in world cinema, and Larson's book is important for any reader interested in how the political sphere and visual culture redefine each other. --YOMI BRAESTER, University of Washington In this masterful study of Zhang Yimou's entire oeuvre, Wendy Larson provocatively challenges existing scholarly misconceptions about his films. Through brilliant close readings of his major films, she develops a complex account of the imbrication of culture and politics in post-socialist China and its position in contemporary global capitalism. This is an important contribution to world film studies and Chinese studies that should also be of interest to readers curious about the politics of culture on the contemporary world stage. --PHENG CHEAH, University of California, Berkeley Provides insightful readings and acute observations of films by the controversial director's films. More importantly, Larson's study situates Zhang's work within the larger--and invariably slippery--notion of culture to argue for an understanding of the enabling conditions underpinning what Larson has astutely captured as 'our deep sense of the way we live and thrive.' This book is an important contribution to scholarship in Chinese cultural studies. --SONG HWEE LIM, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, and author of Tsai Ming-liang and a Cinema of Slowness Engages readers in an insightful reflection on the significance, the potential, and the limitations of film as cultural production in a constantly changing China. --JEROME SILBERGELD, Princeton University A deeply engaging reflection on the ambivalent role of post-Mao Chinese culture in a rapidly globalizing world. This exquisite book is a must-read for anyone interested in Chinese cinema and culture. --FU POSHEK, University of Illinois Larson's brilliant insights in this book prove beyond any doubt that Zhang Yimou's filmmaking, whatever we may feel about it, constitutes a core mode of knowledge through which to approach both China's relationship with the world and the inner life of Chinese culture under globalization. --MARGARET HILLENBRAND, University of Oxford

A much-needed study--the first book of its kind. Wendy Larson, a leading expert on modern Chinese culture, combines historical context, methodological sophistication, and close reading. Zhang Yimou has long been a central figure in post-Maoist culture and in world cinema, and Larson's book is important for any reader interested in how the political sphere and visual culture redefine each other. --YOMI BRAESTER, University of Washington In this masterful study of Zhang Yimou's entire oeuvre, Wendy Larson provocatively challenges existing scholarly misconceptions about his films. Through brilliant close readings of his major films, she develops a complex account of the imbrication of culture and politics in post-socialist China and its position in contemporary global capitalism. This is an important contribution to world film studies and Chinese studies that should also be of interest to readers curious about the politics of culture on the contemporary world stage. --PHENG CHEAH, University of California, Berkeley Provides insightful readings and acute observations of films by the controversial director's films. More importantly, Larson's study situates Zhang's work within the larger--and invariably slippery--notion of culture to argue for an understanding of the enabling conditions underpinning what Larson has astutely captured as 'our deep sense of the way we live and thrive.' This book is an important contribution to scholarship in Chinese cultural studies. --SONG HWEE LIM, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, and author of Tsai Ming-liang and a Cinema of Slowness Engages readers in an insightful reflection on the significance, the potential, and the limitations of film as cultural production in a constantly changing China. --JEROME SILBERGELD, Princeton University A deeply engaging reflection on the ambivalent role of post-Mao Chinese culture in a rapidly globalizing world. This exquisite book is a must-read for anyone interested in Chinese cinema and culture. --FU POSHEK, University of Illinois Larson's brilliant insights in this book prove beyond any doubt that Zhang Yimou's filmmaking, whatever we may feel about it, constitutes a core mode of knowledge through which to approach both China's relationship with the world and the inner life of Chinese culture under globalization. --MARGARET HILLENBRAND, University of Oxford

Author Information

Wendy Larson is professor emerita at the University of Oregon. She holds a PhD and MA from the University of California at Berkeley, and a BA from the University of Oregon. Dr. Larson's previous publications include From Ah Q to Lei Feng: Freud and Revolutionary Spirit in 20th Century China, Women and Writing in Modern China, and Literary Authority and the Chinese Writer: Ambivalence and Autobiography, as well as many journal articles. Dr. Larson is currently working on a study of comparative optimism under socialism and capitalism in 1950s China and the United States.

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