Comparative film studies, transnational film studies: interdisciplinarity crossmediality, and transcultural visuality in Chinese cinema

Abstract

This article conceives of comparative film studies as a subfield larger than transnational film studies and argues that film studies, apart from rethinking issues of Eurocentrism, should go beyond the imperative of following money and should simultaneously address contextual as well as textual, intertextual and subtextual aspects of film production, distribution, exhibition, and reception. Within a general comparative framework, the article identifies neglected and underdeveloped areas in Chinese film studies, such as audience research, piracy matter, literary adaptation, and crossmediality between of film and other arts (theatre, photography, and video). An emphasis on interdisciplinarity is crucial to our understanding of transcultural visuality embodied by film language and technology.