Two sides of the mirror: Contesting social orders with Chinese art heterotopias

This paper presents the results of an investigation into the socio-political and cultural landscape of Mainland China in the Xi Jinping era using discourse analysis and close reading of selected works of Chinese visual arts, film, literature and theatre. The authors read these works through the lenses of Michel Foucault’s heterotopia. The in-depth analysis of over seventy works has generated four overlapping dimensions - heterotopias of transition, compensation and illusion, ambiguity, and heterotopia of dispersed agency. Each of the four types is substantiated in the paper through the case study of one artistic work: an exhibition by Wang Guangyi, a film by Li Ruijun, a short story by Chen Qiufan and a play by He Qi. The authors aim to prove the validity of research of literary works and cultural productions for the understanding of complex social phenomena, as expressed by artists and communicated to audiences.