River Space in Contemporary Chinese Cinema

Home, locality, and waterbodies

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by Mei Yang

Type

Studies

Subject

Countries > China

Keywords

China, ecology

Publishing date

2026 (August 28, 2026)

Publisher

Routledge

Collection

Routledge Advances in Film Studies

Language

English

Relative size

Physical desc.

Hardcover • 222 pages
6 ¼ x 9 ½ inches (16 x 24 cm)

ISBN

978-1-04-126609-9

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Book Presentation:
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.

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

See the publisher website: Routledge