Mapping Film Piracy in China
Theory, Culture & Society, 20 (4):
97 (2003)DOI: 10.1177/02632764030204007
Abstract
Shujen Wang --Department of Visual and Media Arts at Emerson College,
Fairbank Center for East Asian Research at Harvard University
Jonathan J.H. Zhu--City University of Hong Kong
This article examines one of the most crucial yet often-overlooked
links in global film processes: piracy. It does so within the context
of a changing digital media environment that calls for a reassessment
of key dimensions: networks, globalization, technology, space and
the state. More specifically, it focuses on the operation of film
piracy networks in Greater China that includes the Mainland, Hong
Kong and Taiwan. By zooming in on `Greater China', this article presents
empirical accounts of specific links and connections on and between
the intersecting distribution and piracy networks. In sum, distribution
and piracy in China highlight some of the most interesting and intricate
insights into issues of power, control, technology, network, speed,
global-regional-national dynamics, subjectivities and reflexivity.
Given the complexity of the issues, this study argues for a spatial,
network and process-oriented theoretical framework.
film_distribution globalization network space technology