| Abstract |
"The book is an articles collection dealing with the maze of Chinese postmodernity. It is undeniable that the debris of Maoist utopia couples with the overreaching narrative of globalization and the apparent triumph of capitalism. The turning point is sociological, and it revels Chinese double obsession: the need for conformity, cultural homologation expressed by the entertainment industry, and the desire to be different, cultural diversification expressed in terms of localism, revival of neo-Confucianism, and projects on national minorities. However, my focus is not on globalization itself, what interests me is the global expansion of capital only in terms of structural crisis as represented by art and literature. For this reason, this articles collection is primarily a cultural study, an interdisciplinary research, integrating literary criticism, philosophical history, comparative literature and art theory. My purpose is not to question whether China is in a condition of postmodernity, but to acknowledge the ambiguity of Chinese postmodernity, the overlapping of cultural paradigms where Confucian ethics has to coexist with capitalist economy, residual of Maoism, socialist relations and individualist philosophy. By embracing the whole field of humanities, I believe to be able to unfold Chinese cultural leap and the ideological contradiction. And that would be China's project of postmodernity. Scholars and postgraduate students in the area of human science are the normal audience this text refers to; this book will appeal to students and scholars of literature, cultural studies, aesthetics, and modern Chinese culture, and ideology. However, all those interested in contemporary China will find in it an accessible key to decode Chinese postmodernity and bet on its journey."-- Provided by publisher |
