Women Through the Lens: Gender and Nation in a Century of Chinese Cinema

Book Description

Gender and nation have often served as narrative subjects and visual tropes in Chinese cinema. The intersections between the two that occur in cinematic representation, however, have received little critical attention. Women through the Lens raises the question of how gender, especially the image of woman, acts as a visual and discursive sign in the creation of the nation-state in twentieth-century China. Tracing the history of Chinese cinema through the last hundred years from the perspective of transnational feminism, Shuqin Cui reveals how women have been granted a "privileged visibility" on screen while being denied discursive positions as subjects. In addition, her careful attention to the visual language system of cinema shows how "woman" has served as the site for the narration of nation in the context of China's changing social and political climate.

Placing gender and nation in a historical framework, the book first shows how early productions had their roots in shadow plays, a popular form of public entertainment. These films were soon supplanted by cinematic narratives meant to further the causes of social reform and strident nationalism. As Leftist filmmaking turned to the female image to signify a motherland suffering foreign invasions as well as domestic afflictions, gender and nation became inextricably intertwined in the cinematic representation of China. In examining the "Red Classics" of socialist cinema as a mass cultural form, the book shows how the utopian vision of emancipating the entire proletariat, women included, produced a collective ideology that declared an end to gender difference. Sex and desire cannot be eradicated, however, and one of the most valuable contributions of this work is its consideration of the fate of gender difference in a milieu of official suppression.

The emergence of New Wave films brought heightened international attention to Chinese cinema. Filmmakers became keenly aware of visuality as a language system as they experimented with modes of representation. Cui documents and discusses the cinematic spectacle of woman as essential to such widely popular films as Chen Kaige's "Farewell My Concubine" and Zhang Yimou's "Ju Do." In these films, the screen image of the Chinese woman is both nationalized and sexualized, and for international audiences she is the exotic and erotic other, the image of China. Finally, the author brings a feminist perspective to the issues of gender and nation by turning her attention to women directors and their self-representations. She reveals a concealed female identity at the margins where women directors attempt to inject female consciousness and perspective even as they submit to the conventions necessary to get their films produced. She concludes that if Chinese women continue to count on the promises of nationalist discourse for their emancipation, they may fail to realize that the need to free feminism from nationalist narratives is a prerequisite for freeing oneself.

Well conceived and intelligently written, Women through the Lens will appeal to scholars and students in the fields of film, gender, and Asian studies, and to general readers interested in Chinese cinema.

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Women Through the Lens: Gender and Nation in a Century of Chinese Cinema.(Book Review): An article from: Pacific Affairs
Shuyu Kong
Manufacturer: University of British Columbia
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital
ASIN: B000ALV9M2
Release Date: 2005-07-25

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Pacific Affairs, published by University of British Columbia on March 22, 2005. The length of the article is 677 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Women Through the Lens: Gender and Nation in a Century of Chinese Cinema.(Book Review)
Author: Shuyu Kong
Publication: Pacific Affairs (Magazine/Journal)
Date: March 22, 2005
Publisher: University of British Columbia
Volume: 78 Issue: 1 Page: 130(2)

Article Type: Book Review

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Book Description

Edited by Martin Harrison. Text by Lisa Lovatt-Smith, Susan Sontag.

Customer Reviews:

Good research material.......2004-01-15

I just received ths book in the mail. I have numbers 5 and 6 and they are the best so far. This one is still stunning though. It is very hard to find good research books on contemporary fashion photography and Lisa Lovatt does an incredible job writing about the different styles and critiques of this medium. I highly recommend this title (especially nos. 5 and 6) for anyone interested in researching fashion photography. This book goes way beyond just eye candy and cheap fashion thrills. The images are incredible. I also recommend any books by Rankin (the founder of Dazed and Confused), Terry Richardson, LaChapelle; i-D, Surface, Picture and Vellum magazines.

Absoulutely Amazing.......2000-12-28

I received this book for my 17th birthday. I am a budding photographer and I hope to become involved in the fashion industry when I leave school. This book is fantastic. The images as well as the style of the photgographers was diverse and interesting. Photographers featured include David LaChapelle, Mario Testino and Nick Knight. I loved it and I would really recommend this book to anyone.

interesting but not innovative.......2000-06-22

This book is very appealing to the eye with all the colors different models but the fact of the matter is...it's boring. I bought this book and I do like it but i had antisipated more fashion images. I seemed to get a book full of glossy so-so pictures. The pictures where more avant-garde than of that of fashion photography. If your interested in a fashion photography book, you should look into the impossible image or anything by Nick Night. Hotel lachapelle by David Lachapelle is an excellent fashion book as well. I would recommend those books over this one.

it makes a fortune (not yours).......2000-06-13

well, it's their forth. good enough for people who don't read magazines at all, it gethers a lot of so-call contemporary fashion photos in a book for a good coffee-table vaule, but i think it's only "so-call contemporary", for something more contemporary, try "dazed/confused"

Fashion Scope Without all the Poop.......2000-03-13

If you want to see the trends in action in a well presented layout, this is the ticket. Also has interesting interviews and articles with leading editors as well as photographers. If you're into fashion and aesthetics, go go gadget fashion!

Book Description

The Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense faces its worst tragedy ever as the war against the plague of frogs reaches a devastating new level. Heralded by a bizarre villain from the B.P.R.D.'s past, an ancient monster-god marches across the American heartland portending an end to the reign of men, and leaving a permanent mark on the Bureau. Hellboy-creator Mike Mignola continues his collaboration with artist Guy Davis and co-writer John Arcudi to unravel a tale that will leave the earth shaken and the B.P.R.D. shattered. This collection includes a sketchbook section chronicling Guy Davis's creation of the abominations unleashed in The Black Flame.

Customer Reviews:

Graphic SF Reader.......2007-09-04

The war against the frog monsters has ratcheted up, and casulaties are being taken left, right, and centre, including one of the B.P.R.D..

Both the organisation and military support are getting slaughtered, and they have to find a way to take out one of the Ogdoru-Hem, as well as deal with the crazed nazi guy and his Black Flame skull head armor, who thinks he can control everything.

Great story, amazing artwork.......2007-06-07

This is easily one of the best if not the best BRPD book out to date. Lets get over the whole deal with Mignola and Hellboy and stop acting like this book isnt good enough on its own. To be honest the stories here are better than any of the Hellboy tales and Guy Davis is a wonderful artist who has taken over the reigns on these characters and made them his own. Im honestly amazed to see 2 bad reviews from people who claim to be fans of these characters. Stunned in fact since this a great book and I cant see how anyone who liked the other BRPD books didnt think this was great, its a great effort.

BPRD is wonderful!.......2006-08-26

I've been following BPRD since the very beginning and feel that I can say with all sincerity, that this series gets better and better with each new story! The TPB's are absolutely the way to go if you don't frequent comic stores (which I do). So do yourself a favor and purchase all of the TPB's, kick back in an easy chair with a stock of time set aside, and enjoy these bad boys to your hearts content!

I think this is enough BPRD for a while.......2006-07-12

While Hellboy is certainly Mike Mignola's grand creation, any reader of those stories will agree that just as much fun is to be had from the supporting characters. Abe Sapien, Liz Sherman, and Roger the Homunculus have all contributed substantially to the Hellboy universe, and it's always good to see them get a chance to shine. The BPRD books give them that chance, as Hellboy has left the Bureau, and these remaining characters, plus a few new faces, serve as a sort of paranormal strike force. But even then, it is possible to have too much of a good thing. In fact, my main problem with the BPRD books is that they are coming out too frequently - since 1995, we have had only 6 collections of what I consider "true Hellboy" (excluding the 2 Weird Tales volumes, written and illustrated by creators other than Mignola). Compare this with the 5 BPRD collections that have been released since 2003... quite an imbalance there. Of course, as Mignola only fills writing duties on BPRD, he can churn out more work, but still, let's get away from these guys for a while and have more of big red! The BPRD needs a rest, and BPRD: THE BLACK FLAME makes it apparent.

BPRD: THE BLACK FLAME is essentially part 3 of the story begun in BPRD: A PLAGUE OF FROGS. Yep, those froggy-looking monsters first seen in HELLBOY: SEED OF DESTRUCTION have returned, this time by the thousands, and in their wake comes the titanic Katha-Hem to turn the world into a wasteland. The BPRD pulls an all-out take-no-prisoners search across America for the frogs, and if they can't stop Katha-Hem, then the only option left is to go nuclear - but can even that stop one of the Ogdru Hem? Guy Davis provides the pencils for yet another BPRD story arc, and while it's always good to see his work, I am not as enthused about his handling of these characters as I once was. Mignola's art style contributes so much to the mood of these stories, and while few can do creepy better than Davis, I feel he's more suited to period pieces like Sandman Mystery Theater or The Marquis (but, his design for the Black Flame character is superb). As for the writing, it's a lot of guns, grenades, explosions, and machismo, moreso than any other Mignola story I've ever read... well, actually, Mignola shared writing duties with John Arcudi, and I think Arcudi's contribution is what doesn't feel right about this story. It's too loud and grandiose, and by the end, the team is on the brink of ruin. While Mike Mignola's stories do deal with topics on a fairly large scale (creatures/gods from the outer dark trying to return from obscurity or enslave mankind), they tend to have a claustrophobic feel that suits them perfectly. BPRD: THE BLACK FLAME is like watching Jerry Bruckheimer at the helm of a Mike Mignola feature - and good night, let's hope that never happens.

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B.P.R.D. The Black Flame (B.P.R.D, #3)

Manufacturer: Dark HOrse Comics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Comic
ASIN: B000GGVLG0

B.P.R.D.: THE BLACK FLAME, #1 (COMIC BOOK)

Average customer rating:

B.P.R.D.: THE BLACK FLAME, #1 (COMIC BOOK)
MIKE MIGNOLA
Manufacturer: DARK HORSE
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000QAF84C

B.P.R.D.: THE BLACK FLAME, #2 (COMIC BOOK)

Average customer rating:

B.P.R.D.: THE BLACK FLAME, #2 (COMIC BOOK)
MIKE MIGNOLA
Manufacturer: DARK HORSE
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000QACCGE

Average customer rating:

Superb collection of stylish, cold, empty Dennis art

Classic Cartoons, A Great Cartoonist, Needs a Reprint!

The Merchant of Dennis the Menace: The Autobiography of Hank Ketcham
Hank Ketcham
Manufacturer: Fantagraphics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Comics & Graphic Novels | Subjects | Books
General | Graphic Novels | Comics & Graphic Novels | Subjects | Books
Fantagraphics | Publishers | Comics & Graphic Novels | Subjects | Books
General | Humor | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
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Hank Ketcham's Complete Dennis the Menace 1951-1952

Hank Ketcham's Complete Dennis the Menace 1953-1954 (Hank Ketcham's Complete Dennis the Menace)

Hank Ketcham's Complete Dennis the Menace 1955-1956 (Hank Ketcham's Complete Dennis the Menace)

The Complete Peanuts 1955-1958 Boxed Set [BOX SET]

Hank Ketcham's Complete Dennis the Menace 1951-1954 Box Set

ASIN: 1560977140

Book Description

An illustrated memoir and scrapbook from the creator of Dennis the Menace.

Hank Ketcham, the self-styled "Merchant of Dennis," passed away in 2001 at the age of 81, but not before writing this engaging memoir. In this volume, the Dennis the Menace creator charmingly tells his own colorful story, starting when he was about "five-ana-half" and first picked up the "magic pencil." A child of the Great Depression from Seattle, Ketcham abandoned college for Hollywood, to pursue a dream of making drawings for Walt Disney films. Initially rebuffed at Disney, he persisted in huffing and puffing at the Mouse Factory door (all the while drawing "Andy Pandas, rabbits, squirrels, and monkeys" at Walter Lantz studio) until finally he was let inside to labor happily on Pinocchio, Bambi, Fantasia and a host of Donald Duck shorts. World War II intervened, but Photographer's Mate Ketcham was, nevertheless, able to resume his artistic career in the Navy, where, in Washington, D.C., he created cartoons for the War Bond program. Following the war, Ketcham developed into a successful freelancer, placing cartoons in The New Yorker, Saturday Evening Post and Collier's.

Then one fateful day, his harried wife screamed at him that his son Dennis was a menace! That, of course, sparked an idea that subsequently was sold to a newspaper syndicate in the fall of 1950. Within a year, Dennis the Menace was up to a hundred daily subscribers-a figure that climbed steadily.

The Merchant of Dennis the Menace not only traces the humorous adventures of Hank Ketcham-with copious illustrations of his artistic development from a kid with an early knack for copying cartoon characters to a mature and masterful artist of everyday life in the Mitchell and Wilson households-it also offers a special insight into the life and times of the half-pint "Menace." In one unique section, Ketcham takes us behind the scenes of Dennis and provides complete backgrounds for all the major characters, including their genealogies. We are also treated to official model sheets, in-depth analysis of each character's personality and motivations, and an exclusive peek at the private sketches that Ketcham referred to of rooms in the Wilson and Mitchell homes, their backyards, and the neighborhood. To top it all off, the book includes a dozen of Ketcham's hand-picked, all-time favorite strips.

Customer Reviews:

Superb collection of stylish, cold, empty Dennis art.......2004-02-16

Hank Ketcham's cartoons are exquisite, absolutely lyrical, yet formula driven. This is the best collection of his work, and it is very instructive for aspiring cartoonists, because it shows a lot of preliminary sktches and model sheets (similar to the developement of animated films by Disney, where Ketcham worked for a time). Yet Ketcham was an artistic mediocrity with great technical facility but nothing genuine to say, and he was a stranger to his own family, especially to his son, Dennis. It's positively weird that Ketcham shows pictures of his son at age 5, the obvious inspiration for the successful strip, but after that HE PRETENDS HIS SON DOESN'T EVEN EXIST! I went through the book several times trying to find out the fate of the real Dennis, but he is simply ignored. Apparently, Ketcham's wife had psychological problems, the cartoonist divorced her and moved to Switzerland, never speaking to the boy again. Ketcham remarried, his former wife committed suicide, little Dennis came back from Vietnam with problems that he never fully overcame, and the two had no relationship beyond the stipend his father sent to keep him quiet. None of this is hinted at in Ketcham's book, which is strictly about how wonderful suburbia is, and how cute that little rascal Dennis is, and how Ketcham's career just went up and up and up. He made himself a wealthy man by selling the character every which way, eventually training assistants who gradually took over the drawing and writing, leaving Ketcham a rich, leisurely copyright owner. The gags have an artificial, frozen-in-the-fifties quality, and in all the years I have read it, it has never once been funny, thought provoking or connected to any real feelings. But the drawing of the characters and backgrounds was (when Ketcham did it personally) unsurpassed in its flowing simplicity, in its bold, unerring design. He was a true master, and his strip is still being produced, but it is just a meaningless commodity. I wonder where his son Dennis is today?

Classic Cartoons, A Great Cartoonist, Needs a Reprint!.......2000-07-11

I saw this book about 8 years ago at a college library. It features some of the best Dennis the Menace cartoons and tells of some of Hank Ketcham's real-life adventures (Hank is the author of the classic cartoon). Hank based the cartoon on himself and his real-life son, Dennis (He used to tell people "Our son Dennis is a real menace!"). If you look at some of the real-life family photos, you'll notice quite a resemblance between the Mitchell family and the Ketcham family! Hank Ketcham later took off to live in Europe in the 1960's (there's a hilarious cartoon that shows Mr. Wilson's delight that Dennis is going on a vacation but disappointed that his little nemesis will be returning!). Some of you may not understand a lot of what I'm talking about in this review and I guess you'd have to pick up a copy of The Merchant of Dennis the Menace to get a better idea of what I'm saying (which, unless this gets reprinted, many of you may never get the chance).

Book Description

Lutz Koepnick analyzes the complicated relationship between two cinemas--Hollywood's and Nazi Germany's--in this theoretically and politically incisive study. The Dark Mirror examines the split course of German popular film from the early 1930s until the mid 1950s, showing how Nazi filmmakers appropriated Hollywood conventions and how German film exiles reworked German cultural material in their efforts to find a working base in the Hollywood studio system. Through detailed readings of specific films, Koepnick provides a vivid sense of the give and take between German and American cinema.

Book Description

Business Intelligence describes the basic architectural components of a business intelligence environment, ranging from traditional topics such as business process modeling, data modeling, and more modern topics such as business rule systems, data profiling, information compliance and data quality, data warehousing, and data mining. This book progresses through a logical sequence, starting with data model infrastructure, then data preparation, followed by data analysis, integration, knowledge discovery, and finally the actual use of discovered knowledge. The book contains a quick reference guide for business intelligence terminology. Business Intelligence is part of Morgan Kaufmann's Savvy Manager's Guide series.

* Provides clear explanations without technical jargon, followed by in-depth descriptions.
* Articulates the business value of new technology, while providing relevant introductory technical background.
* Contains a handy quick-reference to technologies and terminologies.
* Guides managers through developing, administering, or simply understanding business intelligence technology.
* Bridges the business-technical gap.
* Is Web enhanced. Companion sites to the book and series provide value-added information, links, discussions, and more.

Customer Reviews:

Everyone has some friends.......2007-08-04

I had the misfortune of getting the book from the author when I attended a BI session where he was the guest feature.

He was terrible; did not have one straight answer for even simple questions. The book does not have even one original thought and is re-hash of good books written earlier. Of-course it would have been a huge surprise if it did.

I had, happily, forgotten about that wasted afternoon and this crappy book till a search on 'analytics' revealed that this book has such high ratings from readers.

Then I was somewhat relieved to see that it was just 6 of the author's close friends who had sent in the reviews.

PLEASE save yourself the money and take a look at this book at a bookstore/library before you invest your time and money in it.

Great Pimer for BI.......2007-03-23

This book is a great primer for BI. If you only plan to read one book on the subject, this would be a good choice.

Author's Note.......2006-04-27

Thanks for looking at the reviews for my book, "Business Intelligence - The Savvy Manager's Guide." If you are interested in the topics I describe in this book, you may also find my colleague Dave McComb's Savvy Manager's Guide, "Semantics in Business Systems" of great interest as well. As we focus more and more on understanding meaning, content, and context of the data that is available to us through multiple media, it is important to get a handle on notions of semantics, taxonomies, and information organization. Dave's book is a good complement to mine!

Excellent structured and indepth presentation of topic.......2005-11-02

The book does a fantastic job of providing a managerial level overview of the business intelligence area and the various topics it includes (ETL, Data Cleansing, Metadata, Data Werehousing, ....).

To me its easily the first book one should start with in understanding these areas. After which you can choose to dig into areas of interest - data mining, ....

I direct a group of product managers in one of the leading business intelligence/ETL companies in this arena and I have made this required reading for all my product managers.

I highly recommend this book. Simply buy it - read it.

Good Overview for Business Manager.......2005-10-13

This book does a very good job of providing an overview and insight into the concepts of business intelligence without getting bogged down in the details of technology. The book covers a wide range of topics from the value of business intellligence (BI) to the issues of data quality and information compliance. Additionally, the book includes a quick reference guide at the end of the book which is an executive summary of the topics presented and at the end of many chapters includes a section titled "To Learn More" which provides links and references to further explore the topic.

I am an IT professional familiar with BI, charged with designing and implementing a BI stretgy for my organization. This book did not add significantly to my knowledge, however as a tool for those unfamiliar with the concepts and challenges of BI this is a very good read and reference tool.

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