Shuyu Kong
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9789622090873
- eISBN:
- 9789882206670
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Hong Kong University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5790/hongkong/9789622090873.003.0007
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Asian Studies
This chapter examines a Chinese literary celebrity from each of the past three decades—Wang Meng (b. 1934), Wang Shuo (b. 1958), and Wei Hui (b. 1974)—to show how developments in the literary field ...
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This chapter examines a Chinese literary celebrity from each of the past three decades—Wang Meng (b. 1934), Wang Shuo (b. 1958), and Wei Hui (b. 1974)—to show how developments in the literary field have transformed the nature of celebrity in China today. It begins with a brief discussion of the context and social value of literary production during the socialist, Maoist period (1949–76). It then discusses each of the literary celebrities in turn, moving from the eldest, Wang Meng, through to the youngest, Wei Hui, with a focus on different aspects of literary celebrity culture. Finally, it examines the impacts of Wang Meng, Wang Shuo, and Wei Hui on the broader literary cultures of their times.Less
This chapter examines a Chinese literary celebrity from each of the past three decades—Wang Meng (b. 1934), Wang Shuo (b. 1958), and Wei Hui (b. 1974)—to show how developments in the literary field have transformed the nature of celebrity in China today. It begins with a brief discussion of the context and social value of literary production during the socialist, Maoist period (1949–76). It then discusses each of the literary celebrities in turn, moving from the eldest, Wang Meng, through to the youngest, Wei Hui, with a focus on different aspects of literary celebrity culture. Finally, it examines the impacts of Wang Meng, Wang Shuo, and Wei Hui on the broader literary cultures of their times.
Deborah Davis and Stevan Harrell
- Published in print:
- 1993
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520077973
- eISBN:
- 9780520913578
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520077973.003.0001
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Asian Cultural Anthropology
This chapter argues that the interaction between cultural preferences and economic forces may be partially predicted by Jack Goody's models of the evolution of the family. According to this model, ...
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This chapter argues that the interaction between cultural preferences and economic forces may be partially predicted by Jack Goody's models of the evolution of the family. According to this model, extended-family ties and use of dowry and brideprice should weaken in the Maoist period but revive with the return of differences in social status within and among local communities after the Deng reform. It is possible that normative expectations rooted in sources independent of rational economic choices may prove decisive in an era when the party-state no longer intrudes as directly into cultural and religious life. One may find by the late 1980s that in areas where government authority has dramatically retreated, the dynamic of change for families in China may parallel that documented in John Caldwell's exploration of the demographic transition in western Africa, where family composition shifted in response to new ideologies rather than exclusively in response to new economic incentives and rationality.Less
This chapter argues that the interaction between cultural preferences and economic forces may be partially predicted by Jack Goody's models of the evolution of the family. According to this model, extended-family ties and use of dowry and brideprice should weaken in the Maoist period but revive with the return of differences in social status within and among local communities after the Deng reform. It is possible that normative expectations rooted in sources independent of rational economic choices may prove decisive in an era when the party-state no longer intrudes as directly into cultural and religious life. One may find by the late 1980s that in areas where government authority has dramatically retreated, the dynamic of change for families in China may parallel that documented in John Caldwell's exploration of the demographic transition in western Africa, where family composition shifted in response to new ideologies rather than exclusively in response to new economic incentives and rationality.
Neil Diamant
- Published in print:
- 2000
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520217201
- eISBN:
- 9780520922389
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520217201.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, Asian History
In 1950, China's new Communist government enacted a Marriage Law to allow free choice in marriage and easier access to divorce. Prohibiting arranged marriages, concubinage, and bigamy, it was one of ...
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In 1950, China's new Communist government enacted a Marriage Law to allow free choice in marriage and easier access to divorce. Prohibiting arranged marriages, concubinage, and bigamy, it was one of the most dramatic efforts ever by a state to change marital and family relationships. In this comprehensive study of the effects of that law, the text draws on newly opened urban and rural archival sources to offer a detailed analysis of how the law was interpreted and implemented throughout the country. In sharp contrast to previous studies of the Marriage Law, which have argued that it had little effect in rural areas, this book argues that the law reshaped marriage and family relationships in significant—but often unintended—ways throughout the Maoist period. The book's evidence reveals a confused and often conflicted state apparatus, as well as cases of Chinese men and women taking advantage of the law to justify multiple sexual encounters, to marry for beauty, to demand expensive gifts for engagement, and to divorce on multiple occasions. Moreover, the text finds, those who were best placed to use the law's more liberal provisions were not well-educated urbanites but rather illiterate peasant women who had never heard of sexual equality; and it was poor men, not women, who were those most betrayed by the peasant-based revolution.Less
In 1950, China's new Communist government enacted a Marriage Law to allow free choice in marriage and easier access to divorce. Prohibiting arranged marriages, concubinage, and bigamy, it was one of the most dramatic efforts ever by a state to change marital and family relationships. In this comprehensive study of the effects of that law, the text draws on newly opened urban and rural archival sources to offer a detailed analysis of how the law was interpreted and implemented throughout the country. In sharp contrast to previous studies of the Marriage Law, which have argued that it had little effect in rural areas, this book argues that the law reshaped marriage and family relationships in significant—but often unintended—ways throughout the Maoist period. The book's evidence reveals a confused and often conflicted state apparatus, as well as cases of Chinese men and women taking advantage of the law to justify multiple sexual encounters, to marry for beauty, to demand expensive gifts for engagement, and to divorce on multiple occasions. Moreover, the text finds, those who were best placed to use the law's more liberal provisions were not well-educated urbanites but rather illiterate peasant women who had never heard of sexual equality; and it was poor men, not women, who were those most betrayed by the peasant-based revolution.
