Description: The country's debates--on- and offscreen--over cultural change, market-based economic reforms, and artistic freedom illuminate China's ongoing efforts to build a modern national identity.
Brief description: Wendy Su, assistant professor of media and cultural studies at the University of California, Riverside, is a winner of the Pacific Affairs William J. Holland Prize.
Review Quotes:
"Su has given us an important book on an understudied topic, albeit one that has finally begun to attract the attention it deserves. What distinguishes Su's work and is likely to continue to make it valuable for the foreseeable future is her extensive use of the Chinese language press, her interviews with Chinese policy makers and others connected to the industry, and her understanding of the process of policy evolution, including a dissection of policy documents over time to reveal the key changes that have opened and expanded the market. For those interested in the industry itself -- and not just film aesthetics and filmic textual analysis -- Su's work should be required reading." -- Stanley Rosen, author of Chinese Politics: State, Society and the Market