Creativity and Its Discontents

Creativity and Its Discontentsis an insightful critique of the intellectual property rights (IPR)based creative economy in China. Examining the underlying ideologies of intellectual property, the cultural critic Laikwan Pang argues that the creative economy, in which creativity is an individual endeavor to be commodified and protected as property, is an intensification of Western modernity and capitalism at odds with key aspects of Chinese culture. Nevertheless, globalization has compelled China to undertake endeavors involving intellectual property rights. Pang examines China's IPR-compliant industries, as well as its numerous IPR violations. She describes how China promotes the intellectual property rights in projects including the development of cultural tourism in the World Heritage city of Lijiang, the transformation of Hong Kong cinema, and the cultural branding of Beijing. Meanwhile, copyright infringements proliferate, angering international trade organizations. Pang argues that piracy and counterfeiting embody the intimate connection between creativity and copying. She points to the lack of copyright protections for Japanese anime as the motor of the country's dynamic anime culture. Theorizing the relationship between knockoffs and appropriation art, Pang offers an incisive interpretation of China's flourishing art scene. Creativity and Its Discontentsis a refreshing rejoinder to uncritical celebrations of the creative economy.

Laikwan Pang is Professor in the Department of Cultural Studies and Religious Studies at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. She is the author of The Distorting Mirror: Visual Modernity in China and Cultural Control and Globalization in Asia: Copyright, Piracy, and Cinema.