{"product_id":"shanzhai-deconstruction-in-chinese-9780262534369","title":"Shanzhai: Deconstruction in Chinese","description":"\u003cb\u003eTracing the thread of \"decreation\" in Chinese thought, from constantly changing classical masterpieces to fake cell phones that are better than the original.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eShanzhai\u003c\/i\u003e is a Chinese neologism that means \"fake,\" originally coined to describe knock-off cell phones marketed under such names as Nokir and Samsing. These cell phones were not crude forgeries but multifunctional, stylish, and as good as or better than the originals. Shanzhai has since spread into other parts of Chinese life, with shanzhai books, shanzhai politicians, shanzhai stars. There is a shanzhai Harry Potter: \u003ci\u003eHarry Potter and the Porcelain Doll\u003c\/i\u003e, in which Harry takes on his nemesis Yandomort. In the West, this would be seen as piracy, or even desecration, but in Chinese culture, originals are continually transformed--deconstructed. In this volume in the Untimely Meditations series, Byung-Chul Han traces the thread of deconstruction, or \"decreation,\" in Chinese thought, from ancient masterpieces that invite inscription and transcription to Maoism--\"a kind a shanzhai Marxism,\" Han writes.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHan discusses the Chinese concepts of \u003ci\u003equan, \u003c\/i\u003e or law, which literally means the weight that slides back and forth on a scale, radically different from Western notions of absoluteness; \u003ci\u003ezhen ji\u003c\/i\u003e, or original, determined not by an act of creation but by unending process; \u003ci\u003exian zhan\u003c\/i\u003e, or seals of leisure, affixed by collectors and part of the picture's composition; \u003ci\u003efuzhi\u003c\/i\u003e, or copy, a replica of equal value to the original; and \u003ci\u003eshanzhai\u003c\/i\u003e. The Far East, Han writes, is not familiar with such \"pre-deconstructive\" factors as original or identity. Far Eastern thought begins with deconstruction.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eByung-Chul Han, born in Seoul, is Professor of Philosophy and Cultural Studies at the Universität der Künste Berlin (UdK). One of the most widely read philosophers in Europe, he is the author of more than twenty books, including\u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003eincluding four previous volumes in the MIT Press Untimely Meditations series, \u003ci\u003eIn the Swarm: Digital Prospects\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Agony of Eros\u003c\/i\u003e, S\u003ci\u003ehanzhai: Deconstruction in Chinese, \u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eTopology of Violence\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"MIT Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50410025746706,"sku":"9780262534369","price":12.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_661907a2-a37b-4340-8f32-42fbe7813be8.jpg?v=1729299418","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/shanzhai-deconstruction-in-chinese-9780262534369","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}