First Published in 2004. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

1. Introduction: Toward a Postsocialist Cinema? Review of Literature Changing China Cinema and Society Film and History 2. Writing on Blank Paper: The Classical Cinema before 1976 as a Didactic Paradigm Industry and Social Institution Sample Texts Characters Narrative Spectator Positioning and Mise-en-Scene A. Relays B. Mirroring C. Heightened Engagement D. Epistemological Mastery 3. Entering Forbidden Zones and Exposing Wounds: Rewriting Socialist History The Initial Response: Continuity and Containment A. State and Party Politics B. Policy and Critcism in Literature and the Arts C. Film Production Deng Xiaoping's Power Struggle: Extending the Critique A. State and Party Politics B. Policy and Critcism in Literature and the Arts C. Film Production Deng Consolidates Power: Beyond the Cultural Revolution A. State and Party Politics B. Policy and Critcism in Literature and the Arts C. Film Production 4. Postsocialism and the Decline of the Hero Complexity Class Background and Party Affiliation Reversal or Transformation of Roles? 5. A Family Affiar: Separation and Subjectivity The Incidence of Romantic Love Literary Comparisons Romantic Love, the Family, and the Party Memory, Subjectivity and Community The Peer Group and Chinese Counterculture 6. Ending it All: Bitter Love ? The Importance of Endings Socialist Tragedies and Obligatory Happy Endings Let the Audience Decide Filmography Bibliography Appendices