View/Open - DukeSpace - Duke University

More documents

Recommendations

Info

[Contemporary Scholarship on Homosexuality in Mainland China] Entering the 1990s, China witnessed dramatic changes in its popular culture with a surge a surge of queer novels, films, and art work propelled by the rise of electronic media and technology in everyday life (Berry et al. 2003; He 2008). At the same time, Western institutions such as Amnesty International and the World Health Organization began placing pressure on China’s government to adopt more liberalized attitudes towards sexuality (Huang 2009; IGLHRC 1999). The semi-public culture of gay bars, restaurants, and cruising zones, as well as the continued efforts of gay activists, has been prominent in Chinese popular culture (Wan 2001; Cui 2008). This tide of homosexual visibility across Chinese society prompted the scholarly world to pay greater attention to the tongzhi community (Berry et al. 2003; Sullivan 2001). 19 Contemporary scholarship on homosexuality in China can be grouped into three different fields of study according to their order of emergence: 1) early works that explore the history of Chinese same-sex relations (e.g.: Lau and Ng 1989; Ng 1989; Samshasha 1997); 2) social science research that investigate China’s political position towards homosexuality (e.g.: Fang 1995; Li 2006); and 3) literature on queer cultural products vis-à-vis China’s tongzhi movement (Chou 2001; Rofel 2007). I. Research on China’s History of Same-Sex Relations The earliest modern Chinese scholarly works on same-sex relations were written by intellectuals who labeled homosexuality as a psychological disease (Liu 1987, qtd. in Jackson and Sullivan 2001). 20 A key representation is The Sexual Life of Mankind (1934), written by 19 Notably, Brokeback Mountain (2005) by Chinese director Ang Lee attracted significant attention when it was circulated on pirated DVDs and prompted people to pay attention to Comrade films and novels as well (Higgins 2009; Jiang 2005). 20 Scholars have speculated that after Western powers invaded and defeated China in the mid-nineteenth century, “progressive” Chinese intellectuals looked to Westernization as a mode for national advancement (Ruan 1988; Samshasha 1997). At this time, homosexuality was regarded as a mental disease in the West, and the Chinese Introduction | 16
famous sex educator Cheng Hao, where he describes “homosexuality as gender perversity” and an “abnormal, dirty, and inhuman bad habit” (133-4). Other works published during this time similarly endorse the government’s perspective on homosexuality as a pathological obscenity worthy of criminalization (Hinsch 1990; Kang 2009). In contrast, contemporary investigations of medical texts have consistently ruled out the possibility that homoerotic desire was perceived as a pathological illness prior to the Republican era (1911-1949) (Furth 1988). Given the extent of homophobia that pervades contemporary Chinese society, it is not surprising that most would find it hard to believe China’s long-standing tradition of same-sex practices (Brown 2008; Ching 2010). Historians have documented that samesex relations were tolerated in ancient China until the 13 th century (e.g.: Chou 1997; Zhang 2001). The Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties, in particular, produced an abundance of erotic art and literature (Humana and Wu 1984; Shiren 1984). These artifacts reveal that classical China did not divide people into the homo/hetero binary characteristic to the modern world. Sexual behaviors, including same-sex activities, stemmed from a set of preferences rather than an innate sexuality (Chiang 2010; Tsai 1987). Same-sex acts were a familiar aspect of ancient China’s social hierarchy where upper-class males sexually dominated social inferiors, including male servants (Lau and Ng 1989; Wu 2004). Because classical Chinese lacked a medical or scientific term comparable to the Western constructs of “homosexuality” or “homosexual,” extra care must be taken to distinguish male same-sex practices in the traditional Chinese context from the conception of homosexuality in the modern understanding (Kong 2011). subsequently adopted a pathological view of same-sex behaviors (Ruan 1991). Although recent scholarship has contested the mainstream belief that homosexuality was “imported” from the West, the notion that same-sex sexual behavior was not seriously persecuted in Ancient China remains a general consensus (Wu 2003; Farr 2007). Introduction | 17
Page 1 and 2: Tongzhi Tales in Mainland China: Ch
Page 3 and 4: ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Many people have be
Page 5 and 6: TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ........
Page 7 and 8: Tongzhi Tales in Mainland China: Ch
Page 9 and 10: subscribers. Members of tongzhi web
Page 11 and 12: a new media format rather than work
Page 13 and 14: 恋 tongxinglian) is rarely used wi
Page 15 and 16: [Cultural and Legislative Environme
Page 17 and 18: greatly… I am still in love with
Page 19 and 20: the internet, Chinese people circum
Page 21: online Chinese homosexual fiction i
Page 25 and 26: BC) to the early 1980s, concluding
Page 27 and 28: The book provided insight into the
Page 29 and 30: [Online Comrade Literature: Virtual
Page 31 and 32: homosexual characters to destabiliz
Page 33 and 34: mainstream literary genres, questio
Page 35 and 36: etween secrecy and disclosure, wher
Page 37 and 38: of gay novels in China’s micro-bl
Page 39 and 40: the Tiananmen Square events in “B
Page 41 and 42: pursuits in social terms, seemingly
Page 43 and 44: ecomes malleable and unidentifiable
Page 45 and 46: independent, are obligated to suppo
Page 47 and 48: Dong is clear about his feelings fo
Page 49 and 50: [“The Illusive Mind”: Abstracti
Page 51 and 52: enthusiasm. In comparison, “The I
Page 53 and 54: these stories predominantly display
Page 55 and 56: Accordingly, the author-narrator’
Page 57 and 58: Nonetheless, “The Illusive Mind
Page 59 and 60: underlie and permeate discourses”
Page 61 and 62: goes together with X to the seaside
Page 63 and 64: that powerful homosexual emotions d
Page 65 and 66: first heartfelt bond between two me
Page 67 and 68: a sense of dread because I could no
Page 69 and 70: normative criteria become abject. A
Page 71 and 72: ‘Huizi’ was my nickname for Li
Page 73 and 74:
mimetic behaviors demonstrate the f
Page 75 and 76:
Each boy’s distinct personality a
Page 77 and 78:
During the years of Huizi’s impri
Page 79 and 80:
materiality in the first place (Wil
Page 81 and 82:
thrown into prison the first time,
Page 83 and 84:
[The Comrade Mirror Stage and Self-
Page 85 and 86:
As a result of their intimate same-
Page 87 and 88:
non-procreative homosexual body as
Page 89 and 90:
As Marston Anderson observes in his
Page 91 and 92:
toward respect for the body of the
Page 93 and 94:
Xiaoyang’s experience at the labo
Page 95 and 96:
Heather Love’s book, Feeling Back
Page 97 and 98:
[Tongzhi Reflections: Queer Desire,
Page 99 and 100:
CHAPTER THREE [The Camaraderie Betw
Page 101 and 102:
egime within the figure of the mili
Page 103 and 104:
1964). 43 Aside from ardently comme
Page 105 and 106:
competitions to earn money. After s
Page 107 and 108:
Communist regime - it also specific
Page 109 and 110:
eflections on homosexual friendship
Page 111 and 112:
In contrast, it is only in the seco
Page 113 and 114:
survival reflects Foucault’s noti
Page 115 and 116:
of reiterated acting - one that pro
Page 117 and 118:
But how are military tongzhi figure
Page 119 and 120:
developments in their changing rela
Page 121 and 122:
Although conversation about women c
Page 123 and 124:
In “Commitment,” the romance be
Page 125 and 126:
will “never be separated,” are
Page 127 and 128:
center of the government's power, 6
Page 129 and 130:
that it was just “manually assist
Page 131 and 132:
heteronormative ideals. At the same
Page 133 and 134:
CONCLUSION [From Cozy Nest to Empty
Page 135 and 136:
male homosexuality in four online C
Page 137 and 138:
private spheres of homosexual and h
Page 139 and 140:
manner, reading is integral to writ
Page 141 and 142:
production of online Comrade storie
Page 143 and 144:
estrictions, Chinese netizens have
Page 145 and 146:
Nevertheless, people express hope t
Page 147 and 148:
consumption, but rather than merely
Page 149 and 150:
private sphere, tongzhi are unable
Page 151 and 152:
Bacon, Barbara Schaffer, Cheryl L.
Page 153 and 154:
Chen, Jue. 2004. “The Mystery of
Page 155 and 156:
Deleuze, G. and Félix G. 1980. A T
Page 157 and 158:
Godwin, John. 2010. Legal environme
Page 159 and 160:
Huang, Zhiling and Zhang Ao. 2010.
Page 161 and 162:
Kong, Travis. S. K. 2011. Chinese M
Page 163 and 164:
Liu, Dalian. 2009. Sex Social Scien
Page 165 and 166:
Standing Committee of the First Nat
Page 167 and 168:
Rofel, Lisa. 2007. Desiring China:
Page 169 and 170:
Simon, Scott. 2001. "Sexuality, Cul
Page 171 and 172:
Wen, Xin. 2011. “China’s legal
Page 173 and 174:
Zhang, Yiwu. 2007. “Recent Change
Page 175 and 176:
1. Inciting to resist or breaking t
Page 177 and 178:
September 1999: Judge Zhang Lihua r
Page 179 and 180:
c. 阳光地带 :www.boysky.com
Page 181 and 182:
Appendix IV: Classical Chinese Nove
Page 183 and 184:
Appendix VI: Examples of Tongzhi Mi
show all

View/Open - DukeSpace - Duke University

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?