Sticking with Trans
Reconsidering Chinese American Cinema through Anna May Wong
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21788593 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Yiman Wang (0000-0001-8859-8737, University of California, Santa Cruz, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2024 |
| Volume | 18 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 96-113 |
| Publication date | 2024-01-02 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Chinese Cinemas (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1750-8061 • E-ISSN: 1750-807X |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/17508061.2024.2305766 |
| OpenAlex | W4391543586 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 9 |
This article asks what exactly makes the trans a key concept in our understanding of Sino-American filmic transactions. By studying two silent films of the Chinese American film pioneer, Anna May Wong (1905–1961), with special attention to her mercurial sartorial performances, I analyze her interstitial trans position between nations, communities, cultures, between audiences here-now and elsewhere-another time, and between objecthood and subjecthood. I stress the trans position as a tension-ridden field that resists easy resolution, thereby challenges American assimilationism and China’s ethno-nationalism all at once. I argue that this trans position, which appears to be stuck and suspended, offers a theoretical and methodological framework for unpacking Wong’s legacy, and more broadly, the complexity of diasporic Chinese and Chinese American film cultures
Aesthetics · Art · Art history · Movie theater · Asian Culture and Media Studies · History · Hong Kong and Taiwan Politics
| Highly cited | No |
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