Beschreibung:
Jean Ma shows how the rise and domination of singing actresses—or songstresses—in Chinese cinema attests to the changing roles of women in urban modernity, the complex symbiosis between the film and music industries, and the distinctive gendering of lyrical expression.
Acknowledgments vii Introduction 1 1. A Songstress Is Born 31 2. From Shanghai to Hong Kong 71 3. The Little Wildcat 103 4. The Mambo Girl 139 5. Carmen, Camille, and the Undoing of Women 185 Coda 213 Notes 219 Chinese Films Cited 247 Bibliography 253 Index 267