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Bodies in China: Philosophy, Aesthetics, Gender, and Politics Kindle Edition

5.0 5.0 out of 5 stars 1 rating

“This is a highly interdisciplinary work that deals with the issues from philosophical, historical, literary, cinematic, and post-colonial perspectives. Bodies in China explores a wide range of subjects seldom studied in comparative philosophy and Chinese feminist thought. First, it takes female bodies in Chinese context as the foci to discuss a different conceptual model for replacing a Cartesian dualistic model; secondly, it offers a variety of interesting materials, sources, and cases studies as cross-references to build up the ground for a further study of traditional value and contemporary practice; and thirdly, it has engaged Chinese philosophy as a critical intervention to reframe existing scholarship in different gender issues and aesthetics.” ROBIN R. WANG, LOYOLA MARYMOUNT UNIVERSITY, USA



Bodies in China uses Chinese philosophy to reframe Western scholarship on gender, body, and aesthetics. Does Confucianism rule out the capacity of women as moral subjects and hence as aesthetic subjects? Do forms of Chinese philosophy contribute or correspond to patriarchal Confucian culture? Can Chinese philosophy provide alternative perspectives for Western feminist scholars? The first section considers theoretical and philosophical discussions of Western traditions and how the ideas offered by Confucians and Daoists can provide alternative body ontologies for critical feminist practices. The second section reviews female aesthetical representations ranging from The Book of Songs to the work of the controversial body artist He Chengyao. The third section traces changing perceptions of femininity from imperial to its current cosmopolitan era using a range of case studies including Ming dynasty literature, Hong Kong women’s fashion in the 1960s, and the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. Overall, this book discusses new conceptual models that feminist scholars are using to displace dualism and emancipate notions of the body from Cartesian models and metaphors.

va Kit Wah Man is professor of humanities and creative writing at Hong Kong Baptist University. She publishes widely in comparative aesthetics, feminist philosophy, cultural studies, art, and cultural criticism.She was a Fulbright Scholar at the University of California, Berkeley, and was named the AMUW Woman Chair by Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...Man's book will appeal to theorists seeking to know more about traditional Chinese philosophical approaches to gender, the body, and selfhood ... In an era in which gender increasingly is regarded as an internal, subjective identity, Eva Kit Wah Man's interdisciplinary and cross-cultural approach is a useful reminder of the role of social norms and embodied practice in constructing gender and the self." -- Politics & Gender

"Eva Kit Wah Man has compiled a volume that advances current endeavors toward a truly global vision of philosophy as a discipline." --
Hypatia

"This is a highly interdisciplinary work that deals with the issues from philosophical, historical, literary, cinematic, and post-colonial perspectives. Bodies in China explores a wide range of subjects seldom studied in comparative philosophy and Chinese feminist thought. First, it takes female bodies in Chinese context as the foci to discuss a different conceptual model for replacing a Cartesian dualistic model; secondly, it offers a variety of interesting materials, sources, and cases studies as cross-references to build up the ground for a further study of traditional value and contemporary practice; and thirdly, it has engaged Chinese philosophy as a critical intervention to reframe existing scholarship in different gender issues and aesthetics." -- Robin R. Wang, Loyola Marymount University

About the Author

Eva Kit Wah Man is Professor of Humanities and Creative Writing at Hong Kong Baptist University. She publishes widely in comparative aesthetics, feminist philosophy, cultural studies, art, and cultural criticism. She was a Fulbright Scholar at the University of California, Berkeley, and was named the AMUW Woman Chair by Marquette University.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B08HSG4GPQ
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ The Chinese University of Hong Kong Press (September 9, 2020)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ September 9, 2020
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 4.2 MB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 417 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    5.0 5.0 out of 5 stars 1 rating

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Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on June 21, 2017
    This is a remarkably wide-ranging set of informed, sensitive, and wise reflections on conceptions of and theories about the female body in China. It touches upon and brings together literature, cinema, philosophy, art, fashion, psychology, politics and Chinese culture more broadly, spanning and relating traditional and modern times. The extent of Eva Man's erudition is truly impressive and matched by insight and an extraordinary ability to relate the various topics she treats, uniting them all with the one thread of her central theme of bodies in China. In the course of reading this splendid collection of essays, I was consistently informed, often enlightened, and always delighted.

    Philip J. Ivanhoe
    Chair Professor of East Asian and Comparative Philosophy and Religion
    Director, Center for East Asian and Comparative Philosophy (CEACOP)
    Director, Eastern and Western Conceptions of Oneness, Virtue, and Human Happiness
    City University of Hong Kong

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