Abstract

This study discusses Jia's position as an author-insider-observer, cinematic scapes that emerge from it, and its cultural political implications, By analyzing 18 films by Jia Zhangke(贾樟柯), one of China's 6th generation directors. To this end, this study draws on theory of scapes from spatial studies to analyze cinematic scapes as socio-spatial multisensory complexes that are perceived through the intentions and attitudes of individuals within a particular context. Through analysis, this study argues that the scapes in Jia's films are not simply the gaze of an objective recorder, but are utilized as a way to more effectively visualize a sense of space and reality. The duplicity of scapes, especially the use of the mediascapes in his films, becomes an important point of discussion. Furthermore, this study explores ways to (re)think the local, predetermined problematic of "losers" that Jia repeatedly refers to as a cultural political dimension of the non-simultaneous of real and cinematic scapes. To this end, it examines the meaning of the subject-people as both objects of scapes of suspension and as political subjects who constitute scapes of suspension. Finally, the characteristic of Jia's films as scapes themselves also forms an important part of this study. Thus, this study raises the aesthetic and political issues necessary to view Jia's transforming films in the interplay between the artist's shifting position in social space and the changes in socio-spatial space.