River Space in Contemporary Chinese Cinema

River Space in Contemporary Chinese Cinema examines how filmmakers use river imagery to explore themes of home, displacement, and belonging in an era of rapid modernization. Using the term "river space" to describe geographical areas created by rivers or existing alongside them, the author shows how these areas figure in films as alternative, oppositional, or contradictory sites. The book is divided into four parts, discussing waterscape in Chinese cinema, homesickness and homelessness, rivers in the urban space, and a final comparative reading of Chinese, international, and Hollywood homecoming narratives. Bridging ecocriticism with spatial theories, she explores how rivers function as sites of moral reflection and ethical commitment, offering viewers alternative frameworks for understanding locality, homesickness, and the meaning of home in contemporary globalized society. This book will be particularly appealing to scholars and students of Chinese cinema, East Asian studies, ecocinema, migration, and cultural studies.

Mei Yang is Director and Associate Professor of Chinese in the Department of Languages, Cultures, and Literatures at the University of San Diego, USA.

Introduction Part 1: The River 1. The Faraway and the Nearby: Waterbodies in Chinese Cinema; 2. Laborer of the Yangtze: Locating Suzhi and Value in China's Hinterland Part 2: Home 3. Homesickness: Waiting and Return in Huo Jianqi's films; 4. Homeless Things: Still Life as Jia Zhangke's Gifting Part 3: City, Gender, and Waterbody 5. Liquid Modernity and the Depleted Female Body: Films by Lou Ye; 6. River and the Disappeared Face in Tsai Ming-liang's Films Part 4: Homecoming 7. The Desire for Home: A Comparative View; Conclusion