Semiotics of Exile in Contemporary Chinese Film

Drawing on a variety of film semiotic theories, this book sheds light on works by mainland Chinese directors, Hong Kong New Wave directors, Taiwan New Cinema directors, and overseas Chinese directors. Zeng examines the cultural/historical implications of exile through the detailed analysis of film language and theoretical exploration. Examines film form as a language that generates meaning through film codes, demonstrating that the motif of exile is not only a crucial characteristic of mainland China in its postsocialist, postmodern era and age of globalization, but also a defining frame for Taiwan and Hong Kong with their colonialist pasts Front Matter....Pages i-viii Introduction....Pages 1-15 Semiotics of Photography and Exile....Pages 17-38 Postmodern Signification and the Semiotics of Exile....Pages 39-59 Female Doubling and Postcolonial Exile....Pages 61-105 Semiotics of Exile and Genre Upsetting: Xie Jin’s Subversion of Melodrama in Hibiscus Town ....Pages 107-121 Failure of Root-Searching in Chen Kaige....Pages 123-138 Semiotics of Exile and Displaced Film Codes: Jia Zhangke’s Three Films....Pages 139-158 Conclusion....Pages 159-161 Back Matter....Pages 163-177 Introduction -- Semiotics of photography and exile -- Postmodernism and semiotics of exile -- Female doubling and postcolonial exile -- Semiotics of exile and genre upsetting: Xin Jin's subversion of melodrama in "Hibiscus town"--Failure of root-searching in Cheng Kaige -- Semiotics of exile and displaced film codes: Jia Zhangke's three films -- Conclusion