Cinema at the City’s Edge

This anthology presents a number of leading voices on contemporary Asian cinema studies, including Ackbar Abbas, Chris Berry, Emilie Yueh-yu Yeh, Darrell William Davis, Dudley Andrew, Yomi Braester, Susie Jie Young Kim, Akira Mizuta Lippit, James Tweedie, Yiman Wang and Zhang Zhen. Through a range of interdisciplinary responses that simultaneously investigate film practices and technologies, the contributors offer a timely look at the ever-shifting cities in East Asia and their portrayal in cinema.

Yomi Braester is professor of comparative literature and a member of the Cinema Studies faculty at the University of Washington. James Tweedie is assistant professor of comparative literature and a member of the Cinema Studies faculty at the University of Washington.

“East Asia is a pivotal region in the advancement of media technologies, globalized consumerism and branding economies. City and urban spaces are now attracting cinematic imaginaries and the academic examination of visual images and urban space in East Asian contexts. Highlighting changing conceptions and blurring boundaries of ‘where city ends and cinema begins,’ this collection offers an original contribution to film/media and cultural studies, urban studies, and sociology.” —Koichi Iwabuchi, Waseda University

“The originality of this book on the fragmented cities of Asia lies in the manner in which it pins down the relationship between visual images and urban space. The arguments are eloquent and persuasive, with close readings of critical media texts. Many of the dynamic issues tackled in the book are ‘on the edge’ of film and cultural studies in Asia and should attract a wide readership.” —Zhou Xuelin, University of Auckland