A New Thoughtfulness in Contemporary China

Globalization euphoria and enthusiasm for the West are on the decline in contemporary China. Critical voices make themselves heard in artistic and cultural circles, turning towards their personal everyday lives to take stock. Their questions revolve around concrete experiences in the radical upheaval of lifeworlds, the continued significance of traditions after many of them have been thoroughly uprooted, and the paradoxes produced by the predominance of neo-liberalism. The 17 positions assembled in this volume provide a vivid illustration of such a »new thoughtfulness« in a wide variety of aspects ranging from aesthetics and art to theatre and photography.

Auteur

Jörg Huber is Professor for Cultural Theory and Aesthetics at the Zurich University of the Arts and Head of the Institute for Critical Theory (ith). His research areas include aesthetics and the theory of the political in a transcultural context. He has been travelling to China for more than 20 years.
Zhao Chuan is a writer, theatre worker and art critic. His publications include fiction, non-fiction and works on contemporary art history. He is the founder and director of Grass Stage, a leading Chinese theatre company.