What do you think?
Fiery Cinema: The Emergence of an Affective Medium in China, 1915-1945
What was cinema in modern China? It was, this book tells us, a dynamic entity, not strictly tied to one media technology, one mode of operation, or one system of aesthetic code. It was, in Weihong Bao’s term, an affective medium, a distinct notion of the medium as mediating environment with the power to stir passions, frame perception, and mold experience. In Fiery Cinema, Bao traces the permutations of this affective medium from the early through the mid-twentieth century, exploring its role in aesthetics, politics, and social institutions.
Mapping the changing identity of cinema in China in relation to Republican-era print media, theatrical performance, radio broadcasting, television, and architecture, Bao has created an archaeology of Chinese media culture. Within this context, she grounds the question of spectatorial affect and media technology in China’s experience of mechanized warfare, colonial modernity, and the shaping of the public into consumers, national citizens, and a revolutionary collective subject. Carrying on a close conversation with transnational media theory and history, she teases out the tension and affinity between vernacular, political modernist, and propagandistic articulations of mass culture in China’s varied participation in modernity.
Fiery Cinema advances a radical rethinking of affect and medium as a key insight into the relationship of cinema to the public sphere and the making of the masses. By centering media politics in her inquiry of the forgotten future of cinema, Bao makes a major intervention into the theory and history of media.
Mapping the changing identity of cinema in China in relation to Republican-era print media, theatrical performance, radio broadcasting, television, and architecture, Bao has created an archaeology of Chinese media culture. Within this context, she grounds the question of spectatorial affect and media technology in China’s experience of mechanized warfare, colonial modernity, and the shaping of the public into consumers, national citizens, and a revolutionary collective subject. Carrying on a close conversation with transnational media theory and history, she teases out the tension and affinity between vernacular, political modernist, and propagandistic articulations of mass culture in China’s varied participation in modernity.
Fiery Cinema advances a radical rethinking of affect and medium as a key insight into the relationship of cinema to the public sphere and the making of the masses. By centering media politics in her inquiry of the forgotten future of cinema, Bao makes a major intervention into the theory and history of media.
583 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 15, 2015
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review
June 24, 2026
Fiery Cinema: The Emergence of an Affective Medium in China, 1915 to 1945 is a fascinating and deeply researched study that reexamines the role of cinema in modern Chinese culture and society.
Weihong Bao moves beyond conventional film history to explore cinema as an affective medium that shaped emotions, perceptions, and collective experiences during a transformative period in China’s history.
Rich in historical insight and theoretical depth, the book offers a valuable contribution to film studies, media studies, Chinese history, and cultural theory. An ambitious and rewarding work for scholars and serious readers alike.
Weihong Bao moves beyond conventional film history to explore cinema as an affective medium that shaped emotions, perceptions, and collective experiences during a transformative period in China’s history.
Rich in historical insight and theoretical depth, the book offers a valuable contribution to film studies, media studies, Chinese history, and cultural theory. An ambitious and rewarding work for scholars and serious readers alike.
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review