In the Red: On Contemporary Chinese Culture - Hardcover

Barmé, Geremie

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0231106149 ISBN 13: 9780231106146

Publisher: Columbia University Press, 1999

Synopsis

China, Geremie R. Barmé notes, has become one of the greatest writing and publishing nations on the planet, and both cultural activists and the state are embroiled in debates about the production and distribution of its cultural products. But what happens when global culture and Chinese capitalist-socialism meet in the marketplace? In the Redinvestigates what goes on behind the rhetoric of the official Chinese government and the dissident community and provides a unique perspective on mainstream Western perceptions of cultural developments, artistic freedom, and popular lifestyles in China today.

Illustrated with fascinating cartoons and photographs and rich with facts, anecdotes, and events, In the Red exposes the complex relationship between "official" culture (produced, supported, or sanctioned by the government) and "nonofficial" or countercultures (especially among urban youths and dissidents). Two key and contrasting events loom large in this narrative: the 1989 protests that ended with the June 4 massacre and a nationwide purge, and Deng Xiaoping's 1992 "tour of the south," in which he emphasized the need for radical economic reform. Although a level of political tolerance has evolved since the 1970s, Barmé sheds light on the significance of the intermittent denunciations of artists, ideas, and works.

About this title

About the Author

Geremie R.Barmé is a senior research fellow at the Institute of Advanced Studies at the Australian National University. He is the author of Shades of Mao: The Posthumous Career of a Great Leader and the editor of several books, including (with Linda Jaivin) New Ghosts. Old Dreams: Chinese Rebel Voices and (with John Minford) Seeds of Fire: Chinese Voices of Conscience. He has also translated two volumes of Chinese essays and was a coauthor of and advisor for the documentary film The Gate of Heavenly Peace.

Reviews

The author, a senior research fellow at the Institute of Advanced Studies at the Australian National University and the author of three books (including Shades of Mao, M.E. Sharpe, 1996), has observed Chinese popular culture for 30 years. His book may seem too long for a work that focuses only on the ten years in China since the 1989 Tiananmen mass protest movement, but it has a swift and lively pace. Barm?'s thesisAthat popular culture has developed ways for people to express dissatisfaction without attacking the governmentAis substantiated through his analyses of music, comic books, television shows, ad jingles, screen savers, and T-shirts. One example that epitomizes this theme is a slogan on a T-shirt, fanzhe ne, bie li woA"I'm pissed, leave me alone." He discusses the ways in which self-repression (and self-loathing) has become a form of high art and provides unprecedented discussion of the alienated fringe element that has been observed but not understood by Western journalists and China watchers. This work has a broader perspective than Jianying Zha's China Pop (LJ 4/1/95) and would thus be an appropriate selection for libraries that focus on international relations, China, and communications.APeggy Spitzer Christoff, Oak Park, IL
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Columbia University Press
• Publication date: 1999
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0231106149
• ISBN 13: 9780231106146
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 554