Skip to main content

Distributed for Hong Kong University Press

Queering Chinese Kinship

Queer Public Culture in Globalizing China

An analysis of queer public cultures in China and the way they intersect kinship.

China has one of the largest queer populations in the world, but what does it mean to be queer in a Confucian society in which kinship roles, ties, and ideologies are of paramount importance? This book analyzes queer cultures in China, offering an alternative to western blueprints of queer individual identity. Using a critical approach—“queering Chinese kinship”—Lin Song scrutinizes the relationship between queerness and family relations, questioning the Eurocentric assumption of the separation of queerness from family ties. Offering five case studies of queer representations, this book also challenges the tendency in current scholarship to understand queer cultures as predominantly marginalized. Shedding light on cultural expressions of queerness and kinship, this book highlights queer politics as an integral part of contemporary Chinese public culture.
 

Hong Kong University Press image

View all books from Hong Kong University Press

Reviews

"Queering Chinese Kinship is an important and timely contribution to the field that captures and reflects on the transforming role of family and kinship in the Chinese-Sinophone context. In doing so, it also sheds light on the Western theorizations in queer kinship studies. . . What this book prompts and leaves the readers to reexamine is the concept of the public per se, considering the changing political economy that commodifies and repoliticizes the public visibility of queerness. Furthermore, it urges reflection on the evolving role of public culture in envisioning a future political landscape for queerness in China."

The China Quarterly

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations viii
Acknowledgments ix
Guide to Romanization xi
1. Introduction: Queering Chinese Kinship 1
Part I: Cinematic Cultures
2. Going Public: The Familial and the Political in New Chinese
Documentaries 31
3. Localizing the Transnational: Spring Fever as a Queer Sinophone Film 50
Part II: Popular Cultures
4. Entertainingly Queer? Illiberal Homonormativity and Transcultural
Queer Politics in Q Dadao 73
5. Coming Out as Celebrities and Fans: Digital Self-Making, Carnivalesque
Consumption, and Queer Vloggers on Bilibili 91
6. Rerouting Queerness: Qipa Shuo in the Rise of Chinese Online Video 110
7. Closing Remarks 126
Filmography 137
References 139
Index 156

Be the first to know

Get the latest updates on new releases, special offers, and media highlights when you subscribe to our email lists!

Sign up here for updates about the Press