Title Performing grief : bridal laments in rural China / Anne E. McLaren

Published Honolulu : University of Hawaiʻi Press, ©2008

Click on the following:
JSTOR Open Access
Knowledge Unlatched

Copies

Description 1 online resource (x, 209 pages) : map Series Online access: De Gruyter De Gruyter Open Books Contents Imagining Jiangnan -- The people of the sands -- The hollow cotton spool : women and labour in Nanhui -- Seizing a slice of heaven : the lament cycle of Pan Cailian -- Weeping and wailing in Chinese history -- Shaking heaven : laments & ritual power Summary This is the first in-depth study of Chinese bridal laments, a ritual and performative art practiced by Chinese women in premodern times that gave them a rare opportunity to voice their grievances publicly. Drawing on methodologies from numerous disciplines, including performance arts and folk literatures, the author suggests that the ability to move an audience through her lament was one of the most important symbolic and ritual skills a Chinese woman could possess before the modern era. Performing Grief provides a detailed case study of the Nanhui region in the lower Yangzi delta. Bridal laments, the author argues, offer insights into how illiterate Chinese women understood the kinship and social hierarchies of their region, the marriage market that determined their destinies, and the value of their labor in the commodified economy of the delta region. The book not only assesses and draws upon a large body of sources, both Chinese and Western, but is grounded in actual field work, offering both historical and ethnographic context in a unique and sophisticated approach. Unlike previous studies, the author covers both Han and non-Han groups and thus contributes to studies of ethnicity and cultural accommodation in China. She presents an original view about the ritual implications of bridal laments and their role in popular notions of "wedding pollution." The volume includes an annotated translation from a lament cycle. This important work on the place of laments in Chinese culture enriches our understanding of the social and performative roles of Chinese women, the gendered nature of China's ritual culture, and the continuous transmission of women's grievance genres into the revolutionary period. As a pioneering study of the ritual and performance arts of Chinese women, it will be of interest to scholars and students in the fields of anthropology, social history, gender studies, oral literature, comparative folk religion, and performance arts Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (pages 189-200) and index Notes Master and use copy. Digital master created according to Benchmark for Faithful Digital Reproductions of Monographs and Serials, Version 1. Digital Library Federation, December 2002. http://purl.oclc.org/DLF/benchrepro0212 MiAaHDL In English Print version record digitized 2011 HathiTrust Digital Library committed to preserve pda MiAaHDL Subject Marriage customs and rites -- China Arranged marriage -- China Brides -- China -- Social conditions Women -- China -- Social conditions Rural families -- China -- Social conditions Laments -- China Oral tradition -- China Country life -- China -- Social life and customs REFERENCE -- Weddings. POETRY -- Anthologies (multiple authors) Arranged marriage Laments Manners and customs Marriage customs and rites Oral tradition Rural families -- Social conditions Women -- Social conditions Trauerritual Braut SUBJECT China -- Social life and customs. http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85024186 Subject China Jiangnan Form Electronic book ISBN 9781441619853 1441619852 9780824863920 0824863925 9780824869366 0824869362

  Permalink