Review
A bold and intelligent book that explores the territory of belongingness and not-belongingness. It is a welcome addition to the meager literature on Chinese media and contemporary society and will be of use to students and researchers in the fields of cultural studies, media studies, anthropology, and Chinese studies. ― Continuum: Journal Of Media and Cultural Studies
I very much enjoyed this book for its fresh, personal style, its ability to speak eloquently to the expatriate descendants of the Cultural Revolution, and its critical look at a generation whose identity is inseparable from the consumption of both Chinese and overseas media. ― Media International Australia
An exciting book whose multiple strands of inquiry are woven around the themes of media and diaspora. . . . Sun's synthesis of a range of media genres into a coherent analysis is ambitious and admirably executed. . . . With its wide array of strengths, the book will be of interest to scholars and students of China and East Asia, of media and cultural studies, of geography and anthropology, and across disciplines to those concerned with nationalism, transnationalism, globalization, and the issues of diaspora. ― The China Journal
An innovative collection of essays that applies cultural studies theories to two parallel sets of movements, that of people and ideas between rural and urban China, and that of people and ideas between China and abroad. For those who follow developments in China, many of the people Sun introduces will seem familiar. The images that Sun discusses will probably be less familiar to readers. It is the juxtaposition of these people and images that makes Leaving China so insightful. ― Asian and Pacific Migration Journal
A timely, thoughtful endeavor, bridging the knowledge gap by providing representative cases and in-depth analysis of media's roles in and outside China. . . . [The author's] thesis is bold [and] vitally original. ― Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly
Leaving China contributes significantly to our understanding of how global cultural and media flows are leading to the emergence of a new Chinese transnational imagination. Wanning Sun provides an authoritative and insightful perspective―both personal and analytical―on China's journey to global modernity. -- Kevin Robins, University of London
Situated within the cultural studies framework, [this] book is theoretically well informed and methodologically versatile, combining textual analysis, ethnography, and case study methods. [It] is elegantly written and highly engaging, with many insights and fascinating details. It not only makes a welcome contribution to the literature on Chinese media and popular culture studies, but also serves as a useful supplement to political, economic, and sociological analysis of China's global integration. ― Pacific Affairs
Sun's book constitutes a timely and imaginative contribution to the questions of alterity and identity posed by contemporary Chineseness, a reflection on a new chapter of a story that started a century and a half ago. ― China Quarterly
About the Author
Wanning Sun is lecturer in media studies at Curtin University of Technology, Perth.
