Yunnan, Tibet, and the Northwestern Grassland: Representations of China's Ethnic Frontiers in the 1980s.

This paper examines literary and cinematic representations of ethnic frontiers in China in the 1980s to illustrate how they serve to express intellectuals' different views of China's sociopolitical condition, especially ultra-leftist history and the burgeoning market economy. Works under examination include Zhang Nuanxin's Sacrificed Youth, Bai Hua's The Remote Country of Women, Tashi Dawa's "A Soul in Bondage," Tian Zhuangzhuang's The Horse Thief, and Zhang Chengzhi's The Black Steed. These different discourses of ethnic frontiers contest with each other, reflecting intellectuals' disagreement over how to understand China's past, present, and future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]