Love Stories in China: The Politics of Intimacy in the Twenty-First Century (Media, Culture and Social Change in Asia)

This book explores how political, economic, social, cultural and technological forces are (re)shaping the meanings of love and intimacy in China's public culture. It focuses on a range of cultural and media forms including literature, film, television, music and new media, examines new cultural practices such as online activism, virtual intimacy and relationship counselling, and discusses how far love and romance have come to assume new shapes and forms in the twenty-first century. __Love Stories in China__ offersdeep insights into how the huge transformation of China over the last four decades has impacted the micro lives of ordinary Chinese people. Cover Half Title Series Page Title Page Copyright Page Table of Contents List of figures Notes on contributors Acknowledgements 1 Introduction: love stories in contemporary China Privatization and intimate life in China Neoliberal logic under socialist rule Revolution in the intimate sphere Love stories before the twenty-first century New genres of love in post-Mao China Structure of this book References Part I: Marriage in trouble 2 Is it better to cry in a BMW or laugh on a bicycle? Television shows, marriage and the production of class in urban China Introducing Ma Nuo Love and marriage: the official view Love and responsibility Marriage in a time of insecurity Marriage in a time of opportunity Conclusion Notes References 3 Successology for women: relationship experts and sociobiological discourses Introduction Research methods What’s sociobiology got to do with it? The abuse of science: from quantification to commodification Emotion work in relationship management Twisted female successology in neoliberal China Conclusion Notes References 4 Holding virtual hands: an ethical practice against male Ethical practice Writing against Qiong Yao Speaking bitterness Taking action Conclusion Notes References Part II: Rural–urban inequality 5 ‘Phoenix men’: changing representations of urban–rural marriages in contemporary China ‘Defeating heaven by a half point’: class solidification and the urban–rural divide Phoenix men as ‘urban locusts’ Women, fertility and traditional patriarchy Conclusion Notes References 6 Negotiating class and the rural–urban divide in urban homes: configuring the maid in literature and popular culture Maids in the reform era: dis-embedding, naming and the desire for intimacy Intimacy of the rural–urban maid in literature The intention and narrative focus of maid-themed television shows The nature and reasons of romantic love Struggles, barriers and the denouement Conclusion Acknowledgements References 7 Wounded masculinities: the subaltern between online longings and offline realities Research methods and field sites The ideal of subaltern working-class masculinity Nostalgia for the Chinese ‘male chauvinism of yesteryear’ The harsh realities Conclusion Notes References Part III: Gender, race and class 8 Women in rural romantic love: gender politics in television dramas Rural areas and romantic love in Chinese media Rural Romantic Love Stories: an off-topic love story The couples’ encounters The obstacle in the relationships The development of relationships The non-existence of romantic love and gendered entrepreneurship Bachelors in China Conclusion Notes References 9 Tiny Times, persistent love: gender, class and relationships in post-1980s bestsellers Introduction Post-1980s writers and a tale of two markets Tiny Times: inequality, femininity and sisterhood I Belonged to You: love, masculinity and class Conclusion Notes References 10 The ‘social factory’ of China’s male ‘virtual lovers’ Introduction Social factory Virtuality ‘Emotion’ or ‘affect’? Methods Analysis Conclusion Notes References 11 International romance: changing discourses of Chinese–foreign intimacy in the decades of economic reforms Introduction Late 1970s to mid-1980s: ‘a good girl will not date or marry a foreigner’ Late 1980s to mid-1990s: ‘first-class Chinese women marrying overseas’ Late 1990s to the late 2000s: love is the answer Mid-2000s to the late 2000s: deception, bigamy, adultery and domestic violence Early 2010s to the present: ‘dangerous love?’ Conclusion References Part IV: Queer voices 12 The emerging ‘national husband’: queer female fantasy in popular culture Introduction An emerging queer form of love in contemporary China Manufacturing female national husbands in contemporary Chinese pop culture Conclusion Notes References 13 ‘Revolution plus love?’ Online fandom of the television drama series The Disguiser What is ‘revolution-plus-love’? Revolution: communism as a restored signifier Love: inevitable disillusion with communism? A third space: intertwined homosexual identity and communist faith Conclusion Notes References 14 A love story: Li Yuchun’s fans and contemporary Chinese singledom A hetero Li Yuchun? ‘One Night in Beijing’ 2006 cover Li Yuchun in the 2015 CCTV Spring Gala The 2016 black vinyl ballgown and high fashion androgyny Conclusion Notes References Index "This book explores how political, economic, social, cultural and technological forces are (re)shaping the meanings of love and intimacy in China's public culture. It focuses on a range of cultural and media forms including literature, film, television, music and new media, examines new cultural practices such as online activism, virtual intimacy and relationship counselling, and discusses how far love and romance have come to assume new shapes and forms in the new millennium. The book provides deep insights into how the huge transformation of China over the last four decades has impacted the micro lives of ordinary Chinese people"-- Provided by publisher This book explores how political, economic, social, cultural and technological forces are (re)shaping the meanings of love and intimacy in China's public culture. It focuses on a range of cultural and media forms including literature, film, television, music and new media, examines new cultural practices such as online activism, virtual intimacy and relationship counselling, and discusses how far love and romance have come to assume new shapes and forms in the twenty-first century. Love Stories in China offers deep insights into how the huge transformation of China over the last four decades has impacted the micro lives of ordinary Chinese people.