YouTube: Online video and participatory culture

claiming ‘I’m not willing to use that sort of commercial method’ (129), while Feng maintains he’d ‘rather ‘make fun movies for one billion people than serious ones for a small group of cultural critics’ (166). It is perhaps surprising to note that of the two directors, it is Feng not Jia that is most closely aligned with the state system. Well presented, with extensive endnotes, many of which could have been more effectively utilized in the main text, the book also includes a useful list of Chinese characters to support the Romanized Pinyin names and terms. Not only does McGrath exhibit a strong understanding of his topic but he also writes well, for instance describing the ‘Rupture’ phenomenon as a ‘dramatic break’ from China’s ‘hoary literary institution’ (78). In his concluding remarks, McGrath reminds us of the inherent normative approach of Western scholars taking it ‘upon themselves to diagnose China’s current conditions and prescribe the proper way forward’ (225). Together with Zhang Zhen’s collection, this book provides a much needed look at Chinese cinema beyond the Crouching Tiger phenomenon by examining alternative cultural texts as the products of artists struggling with their nation’s new, and decidedly complex, postsocialist identity.