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Chinese Lesbian Cinema

Mirror Rubbing, Lala, and Les

Liang Shi

The emergence of lesbian film in the first decade of the twenty-first century symbolizes a breakthrough through the creation of new cinema that opens up a space that was not previously available or accessible in China. These motion pictures present a new breed of characters—namely, lesbians—as well as a new sexual subject on the screen for the first time in the history of Chinese cinema. Blending historicist and comparative approaches, this book begins with a critical genealogy of Chinese homosexual traditions in the first two chapters. This strategy allows the author to examine a number of films individually through contextualizing their historical and cultural articulations and interpretations through the remainder of the book.

Lexington Books

Pages: 208 • Trim: 6¼ x 9⅜

978-0-7391-8847-7 • Hardback • October 2014 • $128.00 • (£98.00)

Subjects: History / Asia / China, Drama / Asian / General, Social Science / Media Studies, Social Science / Lesbian Studies, Language Arts & Disciplines / International Communication, Social Science / World / Asia

Chinese Lesbian Cinema

Mirror Rubbing, Lala, and Les

Hardback

Summary

The emergence of lesbian film in the first decade of the twenty-first century symbolizes a breakthrough through the creation of new cinema that opens up a space that was not previously available or accessible in China. These motion pictures present a new breed of characters—namely, lesbians—as well as a new sexual subject on the screen for the first time in the history of Chinese cinema. Blending historicist and comparative approaches, this book begins with a critical genealogy of Chinese homosexual traditions in the first two chapters. This strategy allows the author to examine a number of films individually through contextualizing their historical and cultural articulations and interpretations through the remainder of the book.

Details

Lexington Books

Pages: 208 • Trim: 6¼ x 9⅜

978-0-7391-8847-7 • Hardback • October 2014 • $128.00 • (£98.00)

Subjects: History / Asia / China, Drama / Asian / General, Social Science / Media Studies, Social Science / Lesbian Studies, Language Arts & Disciplines / International Communication, Social Science / World / Asia

Author

Liang Shi is associate professor of Chinese language and literature at Miami University.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Mirror Rubbing: A Critical Genealogy of Pre-Modern Chinese Female Same-Sex Eroticism
Chapter 2: From Mirror Rubbing to Lesbianism: A Critical Genealogy of Modern Chinese Female Same-Sex Eroticism
Chapter 3: Prototypes of Lesbian Relations
Chapter 4: Discovering and Normalizing Lesbians: Fish and Elephant
Chapter 5: Sacrifice of Innocence: Redefining Sexuality in Zhu Yiye’s Film Lost in You
Chapter 6: Lost and Found: Fluidity of Sexuality in Love Mime
Chapter 7: Love in a Forgotten Corner: Female Same-Sex Desire in Rural China

Reviews

The term ‘groundbreaking’ is not strong enough to adequately characterize the insightful contents of Chinese Lesbian Cinema. Utilizing a variety of critical approaches, Liang Shi identifies and explores an important subgenre of underground films that have to date been virtually ignored by media scholars. This book offers incisive analyses of little-seen lesbian-themed films from mainland China, informed by interview responses from their (perhaps unexpectedly) heterosexual, non-activist makers who have little hope of ever reaping profits from their creations. The end result is a must-read text that effectively challenges typical conceptions of lesbian filmmaking as it is characterized in contemporary global discourse.
— Kylo-Patrick R. Hart, Texas Christian University

Chinese Lesbian Cinema

Mirror Rubbing, Lala, and Les

Liang Shi

Chinese Lesbian Cinema

Mirror Rubbing, Lala, and Les

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