Contemporary Chinese Visual Culture: Tradition, Modernity, and Globalization (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9781604977219)

This book examines three overarching themes: Chinese modernity's (sometimes ambivalent) relationship to tradition at the start of the twentieth century, the processes of economic reform started in the 1980s and their importance to both the eradication and rescue of traditional practices, and the ideological issue of cosmopolitanism and how it frames the older academic generation's attitudes to globalisation. It is important to grasp the importance of these points as they have been an important part of the discourse surrounding contemporary Chinese visual culture. As readers progress through this book, it will become clear that the debates surrounding visual culture are not purely based on aesthetics--an understanding of the ideological issues surrounding the appearance of things as well as an understanding of the social circumstances that result in the making of traditional artifacts are as important as the way a traditional object may look. Contemporary Chinese Visual Culture is an important book for all collections dealing with Asian studies, art, popular culture, and interdisciplinary studies.

Author: Christopher Crouch
ISBN-10: 1604977213
ISBN-13: 9781604977219
Publisher: Cambria Press
Language: English
Published: 11/08/2010
Pages: 422
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 1.73lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.00w x 1.06d

Review Citation(s):
Reference and Research Bk News 04/01/2011 pg. 224