Gender and Subjectivities in Early Twentieth-Century Chinese Literature and Culture

Ping Zhu is Assistant Professor of Chinese at the University of Oklahoma, USA.

"This is a lucidly written book. Its theoretical and methodological approach pays homage to a range of theories and studies but it succeeds in providing a unique and illuminating study of issues surrounding Chinese modernity from the perspective of the 'feminine at large.' More specifically, this study successfully demonstrates the usefulness of the conception of 'the feminine' in understanding male subjectivities." (Xueping Zhong, Frontiers of Literary Studies in China, Vol. 10 (1), April, 2016) "Unpacking the modern feminine as a versatile struggle against both gender roles and colonial discourses, Ping Zhu historicizes a unique Chinese experience that gains traction from Confucian bisexual yin-yang ideology as well as Western anti-Victorian, anti-binary theories. Offering embodied subject positions for women and men, the feminine at large was a crucial component of a globally-cognizant Chinese modernity. This book is a wonderful contribution to our understanding of the complex gender ideologies of modern China." - Wendy Larson, Professor of Modern Chinese Literature and Film, University of Oregon, USA and author of From Ah Q to Lei Feng: Freud and Revolutionary Spirit in 20th Century China "This is a succinct but illuminating study of modern Chinese literature from a gendered perspective. Ping Zhu has a sophisticated command of Western feminist theory, which is applied to some of the most seminal as well as hitherto neglected fictional texts from the early 20th-century literature - with a significant and thought-provoking twist: under the general thematic rubric of the 'feminine at large,' the author shows that the gender discourse derived from Western colonial modernity was adopted NOT at the expense of Chinese subjectivity. Rather the reverse is the case: Western feminism is 'undone' in order to empower the modern Chinese nation and the subjectivities of both sexes. I find the author's analysis and insight both original and sobering - not only to those blinded by 'male chauvinism' but also to those who blindly follow the dictates of Western feminist theory." -Leo Ou-fan Lee, Sin Wai Kin Professor of Chinese Culture, Chinese University of Hong Kong and Professor Emeritus of Chinese Literature, Harvard University, USA "A lucid, original, discerning scholar, Zhu's work steps out beyond recent cultural critique and intellectual history. Introducing less studied texts, and resolving existing debates over key texts, this book demonstrates how the anamorphic feminine worked in revolutionary cultural production. That this 'feminine at large' saturated male and female writing in early 20th century Chinese letters - from Lu Xun to Bai Wei - helps us understand the singular centrality of the feminine in Chinese colonial modernity. Zhu forwards the idea that you cannot not address femininity in history of modern China." - Tani E. Barlow, Ting Tsung and Wei Fong Chao Professor of Asian Studies at Rice University, USA and author of The Question of Women in Chinese Feminism

• Introduction: The Feminine at Large 1. The Empowered Feminine: Gender, Racial and Nationalist Discourses 2. The Anamorphic Feminine: History, Memory, and Woman in Lu Xun's Writings 3. The Affective Feminine: Mourning Women and the New Nationalist Subject 4. The Cosmopolitan Feminine: The Modern Girl and Her Male Other in the New-Sensationalist Fiction 5. The Revolutionary Feminine: The Transformation of "Women's Literature" Conclusion: The Feminine and Early Chinese Feminism