GW Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures
Kim-Renaud East Asian Humanities Lecture Series
Friday, November 19, 2021 | 4:00 pm – 5:30 pm EST
Zoom Event
Join us for a book talk with author Chenshu Zhou on her book “Cinema Off Screen: Moviegoing in Socialist China“
About
In this talk, I will introduce main arguments from my recent book Cinema Off Screen: Moviegoing in Socialist China, published by the University of California Press in July 2021. Building on archival research and interviews done for my dissertation in 2013-2014, Cinema Off Screen is the first English monograph that examines film exhibition in China from the founding of the People’s Republic in 1949 to the end of the Cold War in the early 1990s. Through an analysis of both institutional operations and audiences’ lived experiences, I argue for the need to consider the mediation of non-filmic exhibition interfaces – elements of film exhibition that are not the film being shown such as the screening space, technological artefacts, and the human body. One screening paradigm that is particularly revealing of the “cinema off screen” was rural open-air cinema. This talk will zoom in on two exhibition interfaces – the rural projectionist’s labor and the open-air atmosphere – which demonstrate the limitations of any approach to cinematic experiences that centers on the film as the sole object of attention.
Registration
The event is open to the public. Registered guests will receive details for joining the Zoom meeting.
Speaker
Dr. Chenshu Zhou, author, Cinema Off Screen: Moviegoing in Socialist China
Speaker
Chenshu Zhou is an assistant professor in the History of Art Department and the Cinema and Media Studies Program at the University of Pennsylvania. Her research centers on cinematic and media experiences in modern China. Her writings and translations have appeared in journals such as positions: asia critique, Journal of Chinese Cinemas, and Chinese Literature Today. Her book Cinema Off Screen: Moviegoing in Socialist China was recently published by the University of California Press in July 2021.
