Fixing Landscape: A Techno-Poetic History of China’s Three Gorges (Studies of the Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University)

In 1994, workers broke ground on China's Three Gorges Dam. By its completion in 2012, the dam had transformed the ecology of the Yangzi River, displaced over a million people, and forever altered a landscape immortalized in centuries of literature and art. The controversial history of the dam is well known; what this book uncovers are its unexpected connections to the cultural traditions it seems to sever. By reconsidering the dam in relation to the aesthetic history of the Three Gorges region over more than two millennia,__Fixing Landscape__offers radically new ways of thinking about cultural and spatial production in contemporary China.Corey Byrnes argues that this monumental feat of engineering can only be understood by confronting its status as a techno-poetic act, a form of landscaping indebted to both the technical knowledge of engineers and to the poetic legacies of the Gorges as cultural site. Synthesizing methods drawn from premodern, modern, and contemporary Chinese studies, as well as from critical geography, art history, and the environmental humanities, Byrnes offers innovative readings of eighth-century poetry, paintings from the twelfth through twenty-first centuries, contemporary film, nineteenth-century British travelogues, and Chinese and Western maps, among other sources.__Fixing Landscape__shows that premodern poetry and visual art have something urgent to tell us about a contemporary experiment in spatial production. Poems and paintings may not build dams, but Byrnes argues that the Three Gorges Dam would not exist as we know it without them. In 1994, workers broke ground on China's Three Gorges Dam. By its completion in 2012, the dam had transformed the ecology of the Yangzi River, displaced over a million people, and forever altered a landscape immortalized in centuries of literature and art. The controversial history of the dam is well known; what this book uncovers are its unexpected connections to the cultural traditions it seems to sever. By reconsidering the dam in relation to the aesthetic history of the Three Gorges region over more than two millennia, Fixing Landscape offers radically new ways of thinking about cultural and spatial production in contemporary China. Corey Byrnes argues that this monumental feat of engineering can only be understood by confronting its status as a techno-poetic act, a form of landscaping indebted to both the technical knowledge of engineers and to the poetic legacies of the Gorges as cultural site. Synthesizing methods drawn from premodern, modern, and contemporary Chinese studies, as well as from critical geography, art history, and the environmental humanities, Byrnes offers innovative readings of eighth-century poetry, paintings from the twelfth through twenty-first centuries, contemporary film, nineteenth-century British travelogues, and Chinese and Western maps, among other sources. Fixing Landscape shows that premodern poetry and visual art have something urgent to tell us about a contemporary experiment in spatial production. Poems and paintings may not build dams, but Byrnes argues that the Three Gorges Dam would not exist as we know it without them. In 1994, workers broke ground on China's Three Gorges Dam. By its completion in 2012, the dam had transformed the ecology of the Yangzi River, displaced over a million people, and forever altered a landscape immortalized in centuries of literature and art. The controversial history of the dam is well known; what this book uncovers are its unexpected connections to the cultural traditions it seems to sever. By reconsidering the dam in relation to the aesthetic history of the Three Gorges region over more than two millennia, Fixing Landscape offers radically new ways of thinking about cultural and spatial production in contemporary China.0Corey Byrnes argues that this monumental feat of engineering can only be understood by confronting its status as a techno-poetic act, a form of landscaping indebted to both the technical knowledge of engineers and to the poetic legacies of the Gorges as cultural site. Synthesizing methods drawn from premodern, modern, and contemporary Chinese studies, as well as from critical geography, art history, and the environmental humanities, Byrnes offers innovative readings of eighth-century poetry, paintings from the twelfth through twenty-first centuries, contemporary film, nineteenth-century British travelogues, and Chinese and Western maps, among other sources. Fixing Landscape shows that premodern poetry and visual art have something urgent to tell us about a contemporary experiment in spatial production. Poems and paintings may not build dams, but Byrnes argues that the Three Gorges Dam would not exist as we know it without them This Book Is A Cultural History Of The Three Gorges, Spanning 2,500 Years And Media As Disparate As Eighth-century Poetry; Travel Essays And Landscape Painting From The Twelfth Through Eighteenth Centuries; Nineteenth-century British Travelogues, Maps, And Visual Culture; And Contemporary Film, Photography, And Ink Painting. Byrnes Argues That The Three Gorges Dam Exists Not Only Because The Geology And Hydrology Of The Region Make It Possible, But Also Because Of The Symbolic Weight The Region Had Acquired Over Millennia Of Cultural Representation. Fully Understanding How The Three Gorges Landscape Was Produced And Reproduced Forces Us To Cut Through Familiar Developmental Narratives About Modern China To See The Connections Between Premodern, Modern, Semi-colonial, And Contemporary Periods Of Chinese History, An Important Endeavor At A Time When Politicians And Artists Alike Are Drawing On An Ahistorical 'chinese Tradition,' The Latter For Aesthetic Guidance, The Former For Legitimation. A Methodologically Hybrid Book, Fixing Landscapes Combines Aspects Of Traditional Sinology With Contemporary Chinese Cultural Studies, Critical Geography, Art History, Film Studies, And Theories Of Space And Place. It Is Deeply Engaged With The Scholarship Of The Environmental Humanities But It Also Seeks To Broaden The Horizons Of That Field To Better Reflect The Importance Of China-- Tracing The Gorges -- From Trace To Site -- Chinese Landscape -- Chinese Labor -- A Record Of The Trace -- Ink In The Wound. Corey Byrnes. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. "This book is a cultural history of the Three Gorges, spanning 2,500 years and media as disparate as eighth-century poetry; travel essays and landscape painting from the twelfth through eighteenth centuries; nineteenth-century British travelogues, maps, and visual culture; and contemporary film, photography, and ink painting. Byrnes argues that the Three Gorges Dam exists not only because the geology and hydrology of the region make it possible, but also because of the symbolic weight the region had acquired over millennia of cultural representation. Fully understanding how the Three Gorges landscape was produced and reproduced forces us to cut through familiar developmental narratives about modern China to see the connections between premodern, modern, semi-colonial, and contemporary periods of Chinese history, an important endeavor at a time when politicians and artists alike are drawing on an historical 'Chinese tradition,' the latter for aesthetic guidance, the former for legitimation. A methodologically hybrid book, Fixing Landscapes combines aspects of traditional Sinology with contemporary Chinese cultural studies, critical geography, art history, film studies, and theories of space and place. It is deeply engaged with the scholarship of the environmental humanities but it also seeks to broaden the horizons of that field to better reflect the importance of China"-- Provided by publisher