The Emerging Lesbian
Female Same-Sex Desire in Modern China
9780226734804
9780226734781
The Emerging Lesbian
Female Same-Sex Desire in Modern China
In early twentieth-century China, age-old traditions of homosocial and homoerotic relationships between women suddenly became an issue of widespread public concern. Discussed formerly in terms of friendship and sisterhood, these relationships came to be associated with feminism, on the one hand, and psychobiological perversion, on the other—a radical shift whose origins have long been unclear.
In this first ever book-length study of Chinese lesbians, Tze-lan D. Sang convincingly ties the debate over female same-sex love in China to the emergence of Chinese modernity. As women’s participation in social, economic, and political affairs grew, Sang argues, so too did the societal significance of their romantic and sexual relations. Focusing especially on literature by or about women-preferring women, Sang traces the history of female same-sex relations in China from the late imperial period (1600-1911) through the Republican era (1912-1949). She ends by examining the reemergence of public debate on lesbians in China after Mao and in Taiwan after martial law, including the important roles played by globalization and identity politics.
In this first ever book-length study of Chinese lesbians, Tze-lan D. Sang convincingly ties the debate over female same-sex love in China to the emergence of Chinese modernity. As women’s participation in social, economic, and political affairs grew, Sang argues, so too did the societal significance of their romantic and sexual relations. Focusing especially on literature by or about women-preferring women, Sang traces the history of female same-sex relations in China from the late imperial period (1600-1911) through the Republican era (1912-1949). She ends by examining the reemergence of public debate on lesbians in China after Mao and in Taiwan after martial law, including the important roles played by globalization and identity politics.
392 pages | 11 halftones | 6 x 9 | © 2003
Worlds of Desire: The Chicago Series on Sexuality, Gender, and Culture
Asian Studies: East Asia, General Asian Studies
History: Asian History
Literature and Literary Criticism: Asian Languages
Reviews
Table of Contents
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
1. Introduction
One: Premodern China
2. Revisiting Premodern Chinese Female-Female Relations
3. Odd Girls in Pu Songling’s Tales of the Strange
Two: Republican China
4. Translating Homosexuality: The Discourse of Tongxing ai in Republican China
5. Female Same-Sex Love in May Fourth Fiction
Three: China after Mao
6. The Brave New World of Post-Mao China: An Overview
7. Lin Bai’s Narratives of Female Homoerotic Desire
8. Gender-Transcendent Consciousness and Private Life
Four: Taiwan after Martial Law
9. Lesbian Activism in the Mediated Public Sphere
10. The Autobiographical Lesbian
Epilogue
Appendix
Notes
Select Glossary of Chinese Names and Terms
Select Bibliography
Index
Acknowledgments
1. Introduction
One: Premodern China
2. Revisiting Premodern Chinese Female-Female Relations
3. Odd Girls in Pu Songling’s Tales of the Strange
Two: Republican China
4. Translating Homosexuality: The Discourse of Tongxing ai in Republican China
5. Female Same-Sex Love in May Fourth Fiction
Three: China after Mao
6. The Brave New World of Post-Mao China: An Overview
7. Lin Bai’s Narratives of Female Homoerotic Desire
8. Gender-Transcendent Consciousness and Private Life
Four: Taiwan after Martial Law
9. Lesbian Activism in the Mediated Public Sphere
10. The Autobiographical Lesbian
Epilogue
Appendix
Notes
Select Glossary of Chinese Names and Terms
Select Bibliography
Index