Contemporary Chinese Cinema and Visual Culture

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. -- Stephen Teo, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
A timely intervention in academic debates and visual productions that challenges the reader to rethink familiar concepts (e.g., nation, masculinity, environment) and reconfigure relationships between cinema and other arts. A must-read for those interested in the expert judgment of a leading voice in the field. -- Yingjin Zhang, University of California, San Diego, USA
In a world ravaged by pandemics, ecological degradation, sexual violence, racial assaults, territorial disputes, and trade wars, Sheldon Lu’s book makes a critical intervention into ongoing debates about China by focusing on the notion of the “nation” in cinema and related visual arts. Absolutely essential reading. -- Gina Marchetti, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
As the originator of the transnational concept, Sheldon Lu is the most able scholar to probe the vagaries of national cinema in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. We tend to think of globalisation and nationalism as antithetical forces, but Lu presents case after case of how nationalism is aided and abetted by globalisation and transnationalism. China’s film and visual culture carry the aims of patriotic ideologues, but also present visions of individual struggles against repression, inequality and patriarchy. Contemporary Chinese Cinema and Visual Culture is an incisive, expansive intervention into China’s global figurations. -- Emilie Yueh-yu Yeh, Lingnan University, Hong Kong
Contemporary Chinese Cinema and Visual Culture is an essential contribution to Chinese film and cultural studies, offering a critical examination of the contested interplay between nationalism, transnationalism, and globalization in contemporary China’s visual media landscape … Lu provides crucial insights into China’s paradoxical engagement with global forces, making this book indispensable for scholars of contemporary Chinese-language film and media productions, the Sinophone, and transnational cultural studies. * Modern Chinese Literature and Culture *