Yingjin Zhang's new work on space and Chinese cinema characteristically combines theoretical insights with well-informed critical analysis of contemporary Chinese cinematic production, distribution, and reception, creating new horizons for understanding Chinese cinema in a globalizing age and new trajectories for delineating its history in location.

As the “Introduction” states, Zhang's aim in theorizing the concept of “polylocality” is not simply to capture representations of space and place in Chinese cinema, although he does highlight their importance. Rather Zhang builds on “recent development in human geography and social theory” (p. 1) to elaborate the possibilities of space-based understanding of cinema in particular, and of cultural production and consumption in general. In fact, this book can be seen as a development of Zhang's continuing interest in space in modern and contemporary Chinese culture, from The City in Chinese Literature and Film (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1996) to Chinese National Cinema (New...

You do not currently have access to this content.