In the traditional Chinese symbolic vocabulary, the construction of gender was never far from debates about ritual propriety, desire, and even cosmic harmony. Competing Discourses maps the aesthetic and semantic meanings associated with gender in the Ming-Qing vernacular novel through close readings of five long narratives: Marriage Bonds to Awaken the World, Dream of the Red Chamber, A Country Codger's Words of Exposure, Flowers in the Mirror, and A Tale of Heroic Lovers.
Epstein argues that the authors of these novels manipulated gendered terms to achieve structural coherence. These patterns are, however, frequently at odds with other gendered structures in the texts, and authors exploited these conflicts to discuss the problem of orthodox behavior versus the cult of feeling.
| ISBN: | 9780674005129 |
| Publication date: | 1st June 2001 |
| Author: | Maram Epstein, Harvard University |
| Publisher: | Harvard University Asia Center an imprint of Harvard University Press |
| Format: | Hardback |
| Pagination: | 353 pages |
| Series: | Harvard East Asian Monographs |
| Genres: |
Literary theory Literary studies: fiction, novelists and prose writers |
In the traditional Chinese symbolic vocabulary, the construction of gender was never far from debates about ritual propriety, desire, and even cosmic harmony. Competing Discourses maps the aesthetic and semantic meanings associated with gender in the Ming-Qing vernacular novel through close readings of five long narratives: Marriage Bonds to Awaken the World, Dream of the Red Chamber, A Country Codger's Words of Exposure, Flowers in the Mirror, and A Tale of Heroic Lovers.
Competing Discourses features in the following genres: Literary theory, Literary studies: fiction, novelists and prose writers
Hardback. Not Available.
Competing Discourses was written by Maram Epstein, Harvard University and published by Harvard University Asia Center an imprint of Harvard University Press
Competing Discourses has 353 pages
Yes it is part of Harvard East Asian Monographs series