Queer Comrades Gay Identity and Tongzhi Activism in Postsocialist China [#444896]

Hongwei Bao, "Queer Comrades: Gay Identity and Tongzhi Activism in Postsocialist China"
English | 2018 | pages: 279 | ISBN: 8776942341, 8776942368 | PDF | 8,4 mb
This very timely, well-written and insightful exploration of gay identity and queer activism in the People's Republic of China today is more than a study of 'queer China' through the lens of male homosexuality; it also examines identity, power and governmentality in contemporary China, as shaped by China's historical conditions and contemporary situations. This book offers in-depth analysis of recent queer history and contemporary cultural texts, including the processes by which queer theory and activism was introduced and received in the PRC, the transformation of Shanghai's queer spaces, leading queer filmmaker Cui Zi'en life and works, and personal diaries written by gay men receiving conversion therapies. It also presents rich ethnographic data gained from fieldwork conducted in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou's urban gay communities and documents queer public cultural events such as the Shanghai LGBT Pride, the Beijing Queer Film Festival, the China Queer Film Festival Tour, as well as a clash between cruising gay men and the police over the use of public space in the People's Park, Guangzhou.