For centuries of Chinese history, polygamy and prostitution were closely linked practices that legitimized the "polygynous male," the man with multiple sexual partners. Despite their strict hierarchies, these practices also addressed fundamental antagonisms in sexual relations in serious and constructive ways. Qing fiction abounds in stories of female resistance and superiority. Women--main wives, concubines, and prostitutes--were adept at exerting control and gaining status for themselves, while men indulged in elaborate ...
Read More
For centuries of Chinese history, polygamy and prostitution were closely linked practices that legitimized the "polygynous male," the man with multiple sexual partners. Despite their strict hierarchies, these practices also addressed fundamental antagonisms in sexual relations in serious and constructive ways. Qing fiction abounds in stories of female resistance and superiority. Women--main wives, concubines, and prostitutes--were adept at exerting control and gaining status for themselves, while men indulged in elaborate fantasies about female power. In Polygamy and Sublime Passion, Keith McMahon introduces a new concept, "passive polygamy," to explain the unusual number of Qing stories in which women take charge of a man's desires, turning him into an instrument of female will. To this he adds a story that haunted the institutions of polygamy and prostitution: the tale of "sublime passion," in which the main characters are a "remarkable" woman and her male lover. Throughout the book McMahon examines how polygamy, prostitution, and the story of sublime passion encountered the first stages of paradigmatic change in the nineteenth century, decades before the legal abolition of polygamy. By the end of the Qing dynasty in 1911, love stories were celebrating the exploits of street-smart prostitutes who fleeced gullible patrons in the bustling city of Shanghai. What do these characters have in common with their early counterparts as men and women became inhabitants of a new city in an era flooded with ideas from radically foreign sources--all of this taking place in a time of economic and cultural dislocation? McMahon reads late Qing love stories in a historically symbolic way, taking them as part of a larger fantasy of Chinese civilization undergoing a fundamental crisis. The polygamous marriage and the affairs of the brothel became metaphorical staging grounds for portraying the destiny of China on the verge of modernity. Finally, McMahon speculates on the changes polygamous sexuality underwent after the Qing dynasty ended and whether it exerted a residual influence in later times. Polygamy and Sublime Passion will undoubtedly engage those interested in Chinese society, culture, literature, and gender studies as well as comparativists seeking to understand the diverse responses to modernization around the world.
Read Less
Add this copy of Polygamy and Sublime Passion: Sexuality in China on the to cart. $10.00, new condition, Sold by 417 Books rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Branson, MO, UNITED STATES, published 2009 by University of Hawaii Press.
Add this copy of Polygamy and Sublime Passion: Sexuality in China on the to cart. $10.00, like new condition, Sold by Doss-Haus Books rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Redondo Beach, CA, UNITED STATES, published 2009 by University of Hawaii Press.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
Fine in Fine jacket. Book. 8vo-over 7¾-9¾" tall. Hardcover 2009, 1st edition. Dust jacket and boards in fine condition. Binding firm. Pages unmarked and clean. (215 pages)
Add this copy of Polygamy and Sublime Passion: Sexuality in China on the to cart. $10.50, like new condition, Sold by Powell's Books Chicago rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Chicago, IL, UNITED STATES, published 2009 by University of Hawaii Press.
Add this copy of Polygamy and Sublime Passion: Sexuality in China on the to cart. $10.88, new condition, Sold by Powell's Books Chicago rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Chicago, IL, UNITED STATES, published 2009 by University of Hawaii Press.
Add this copy of Polygamy and Sublime Passion: Sexuality in China on the to cart. $11.07, very good condition, Sold by Midtown Scholar Bookstore rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Harrisburg, PA, UNITED STATES, published 2009 by University of Hawaii Press.
Add this copy of Polygamy and Sublime Passion: Sexuality in China on the to cart. $13.98, Sold by MESILLAINTERNET rated 3.0 out of 5 stars, ships from LAS CRUCES, NM, UNITED STATES, published 2009 by University of Hawaii Press.
Add this copy of Polygamy and Sublime Passion: Sexuality in China on the to cart. $16.39, very good condition, Sold by Ebooksweb rated 3.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Bensalem, PA, UNITED STATES, published 2009 by University of Hawaii Press.
Add this copy of Polygamy and Sublime Passion: Sexuality in China on the to cart. $16.82, like new condition, Sold by Ebooksweb rated 3.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Bensalem, PA, UNITED STATES, published 2009 by University of Hawaii Press.
Add this copy of Polygamy and Sublime Passion: Sexuality in China on the to cart. $17.00, very good condition, Sold by BookHouse On-Line rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Minneapolis, MN, UNITED STATES, published 2009 by University of Hawaii Press.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
Very Good in Very Good jacket. Size: 6x1x9; First Printing with full number line. Binding is tight, sturdy, and square; very minor wear to edges of black cloth boards, gilt titling remains bright and bold; text very good. Unclipped dust jacket in VG+ condition, arrives wrapped in protective mylar. Ships same or next business day from Dinkytown in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Add this copy of Polygamy and Sublime Passion: Sexuality in China on the to cart. $17.47, new condition, Sold by Ebooksweb rated 3.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Bensalem, PA, UNITED STATES, published 2009 by University of Hawaii Press.