Queer Marxism in Two Chinas - Hardcover

Liu, Petrus

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0822359723 ISBN 13: 9780822359722

Publisher: Duke University Press Books, 2015

Synopsis

In Queer Marxism in Two Chinas Petrus Liu rethinks the relationship between Marxism and queer cultures in mainland China and Taiwan. Whereas many scholars assume the emergence of queer cultures in China signals the end of Marxism and demonstrates China's political and economic evolution, Liu finds the opposite to be true. He challenges the persistence of Cold War formulations of Marxism that position it as intellectually incompatible with queer theory, and shows how queer Marxism offers a nonliberal alternative to Western models of queer emancipation. The work of queer Chinese artists and intellectuals not only provides an alternative to liberal ideologies of inclusion and diversity, but demonstrates how different conceptions of and attitudes toward queerness in China and Taiwan stem from geopolitical tensions. With Queer Marxism in Two Chinas Liu offers a revision to current understandings of what queer theory is, does, and can be. 

About this title

Review

"Liu’s book charts a bold intellectual path for queer studies, Marxist theory, and Chinese studies. . . . The book provides truly transdisciplinary insights on how the normative reproduction of society depends on queer marginalization and social existence. It is in this way that Queer Marxism in Two Chinas demonstrates how queer theory, Marxism, and Chineseness matter to each other."

(Alvin K. Wong Twentieth-Century China)

"Overall, Liu’s new book is beautifully written, theoretically rich, and intellectually rigorous, enabling a critical lens to scrutinize queer cultural productions and reproductions in Taiwan and mainland China." (John Wei China Review International)

"Queer Marxism in Two Chinas is a theoretically rigorous, intellectually stimulating, and conceptually rich book.... The book is an important contribution to both queer studies and China studies, and it is well-positioned to (re)define the emergent field of queer China studies." (Jia Tan Modern Chinese Literature and Culture)

"Liu’s approach establishes an innovative set of dialogues between cultural production, social activism, and queer theory that serve as fertile ground for a sustained critique of liberal politics. Given Liu’s eclectic
selection of sources and provocative theoretical ambitions, scholarly interest in this work will go far beyond the field of modern Chinese studies; readers drawn to Marxism, queer studies, literature, and cinema will all find much to ponder in these pages." (Harlan D. Chambers Journal of Asian Studies)

“A powerful and insightful analysis. . . . Petrus Liu’s book is impressive precisely because it helps us reimagine queer theory, Marxism, and the Chinas, as well as their novel potential reconfigurations.” (Calvin Hui GLQ)

"Liu offers a poignant corrective to the relationship between culture and economy for queer Marxism." (J. Daniel Luther Year's Work in Critical & Cultural Theory)

About the Author

Petrus Liu is Associate Professor of Humanities at Yale-NUS College and the author of Stateless Subjects: Chinese Martial Arts Literature and Postcolonial History. 

About this edition

• Publisher: Duke University Press Books
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 0822359723
• ISBN 13: 9780822359722
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 256