Body, Subject, and Power in China by Angela Zito

Body, Subject, and Power in China by Angela Zito

This volume brings to the study of China the theoretical concerns and methods of contemporary critical cultural studies. Written by historians, art historians, anthropologists and literary critics who came of age after the People's Republic resumed scholarly ties with the United States, these essays provide new insights not only for China studies but also, by extension, for non-Asian cultural criticism. Contributors investigate problems of bodiliness, engendered subjectivities and discourses of power through a variety of sources that include written texts, paintings, buildings, interviews and observations. Taken together, the essays show that bodies in China have been classified, represented, discussed, ritualized, gendered and eroticized in as many ways as those described in critical histories of the West. Silk robes, rocks, winds, gestures of bowing, yin yang hierarchies and cross-dressing have helped create experiences of the body specific to Chinese historical life. By pointing to multiple examples of re-imagining subjectivity and renegotiating power, the essays encourage scholars to avoid making broad generalizations about China and to rethink traditional notions of power, subject and bodiliness in light of actual Chinese practices.

Zito, Angela: - Angela Zito is associate professor of anthropology and religious studies, director of the Religious Studies Program, and co-director of the Center for Religion and Media, all the New York University.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780226987279
ISBN 10	0226987272
Title	Body, Subject, and Power in China
Author	Angela Zito
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	The University of Chicago Press
Year published	1994-05-16
Number of pages	316
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.