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Introduction: China’s “New Wave Cinema” in the Era of Globalization

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Ideology and Utopia in China's New Wave Cinema

Part of the book series: Chinese Literature and Culture in the World ((CLCW))

Abstract

This chapter discusses the nature of the social reality transcribed, projected, and articulated in China’s “New Wave Cinema.” This cinema here is compared to Italian Neorealism and French New Wave. Why are there so many similarities and what is the difference? What conditions led to its tenacious rise in the post-1989 period, and its reluctant disintegration and dispersal in the new millennium? This chapter maps out the context of globalization and China’s integration with global capitalism, then goes on to discuss China’s Sixth Generation directors and their visions in this neoliberal age. Since their cultural-political vision regarding the unprecedented change taking place is also subject to the impingement of the historical sea-change—in particular, the onslaught of Western knowledge and ideology in this peculiar historical period—it falls upon us to explore the historicity of the cinematic form and content.

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Wang, X. (2018). Introduction: China’s “New Wave Cinema” in the Era of Globalization. In: Ideology and Utopia in China's New Wave Cinema. Chinese Literature and Culture in the World. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-91140-3_1

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