Abstract
Separated by 30 years of rapid economic growth, the divergent aesthetics of two Chinese documentaries River Elegy (Heshang, 1988) and Amazing China (Lihaile, wode guo, 2018) merit a comparative cross-inquiry. While River Elegy expressed a younger generation’s admiration for the azure Western culture with its overseas expeditions and scientific ingenuity, Amazing China turns the tables, and in its depiction of the People’s Republic as a maritime empire celebrates the sheer power of nationalized technology. The comparison provides yet another, contemporary example of the startling flexibility with which the party-state avails itself of subversive imageries at the expense of their own creators.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | China and the world : language, culture, politics : papers from the International conference, jointly organized by the Department of Sinology at Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski" and the Department of China Studies at Xi'an Jiantong – Liverpool University, 12–13 December 2019 |
| Editors | Alexander ALEXIEV, Pawel ZYGADLO |
| Publisher | St. Kliment Ohridski University Press |
| Pages | 197-206 |
| Number of pages | 10 |
| Volume | 1 |
| ISBN (Electronic) | 9789510750712 |
| ISBN (Print) | 9789510750750 |
| Publication status | Published - 2020 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- River Elegy
- nationalism
- intellectuals
- aesthetics
- party-state
