The Wanderings of Jia Zhangke: Pre-Hodological Space and Aimless Youths in Xiao Wu and Unknown Pleasures

This article examines the pre-hodological space Jia Zhangke creates in his films, such as  Xiao Wu  (1997) and  Unknown Pleasures  (2002), illustrating the connection between the formal construction of filmic space and economic reform in China. Gilles Deleuze defines pre-hodological space as the space before action, drawing from Kurt Lewin’s  Principles of Topological Psychology  (1936) and Gilbert Simondon on the concept of individuation. Exploring Jia’s films through these originary texts, the author elaborates a psychopolitics based on the connection between the production of subjects and the growth of globalized capitalist economies in China.