The idea of Asia(nism) and trans-Asian productions

This chapter examines how the idea of Asia(ism) as an abstract form seeks its own content through the representations in Chinese cinemas. It looks at some historical instances in Chinese cinematic productions, including the occupation cinema of Shanghai, the wartime Chongqing cinema, the leftist films of the Chinese Communist Party during the Sino-Japanese War, the PRC’s movies about the Korean War and the Cold War, and Hong Kong’s trans-Asian productions during the Cold War, in which the idea of Asia has been played out for utopian vision or ideological manipulation. With the visibility of alluring images on display via the signification of the cinematic apparatus, Asia as an intangible, transcendental idea generates certain affective or cognitive functions that may rupture or conceal the interpellating role of the film medium.