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List of contents
Acknowledgements
1. Introduction: How Far Does Travelling Theory Travel? Questions for Travelling Theory and Translation
2. Awakening Again: The 1980s
3. Duihua (Dialogue) In-Between: The Process of Translating the Terms "Feminism" and "Gender" in China
4. Jiegui (Connecting with the International Track): The 1990s
5. The Cases of Two NGOs
6. That was the Past, What is the Future?
References
Index
About the author
Min Dongchao is Director of the Centre for Gender and Cultural Studies and Professor in the Department of Cultural Studies at Shanghai University, China.
Summary
Research has shown that feminist theory has flowed far more easily from North to South and from West to East, wheras travel in other directions has proved almost non-existent. While the hegemony of US feminist theory has been challenged in Europe, for example, there remain many ‘invisible’ discursive trajectories that link the development of feminist theories and movements across the world. This book brings together and engages with theories of globalisation, transnational feminism, travelling theory and cultural translation, exploring the travelling routes of feminist theory and practice to China over recent decades. With attention to the crucial questions of why and how knowledge travels or fails to travel, the forms that it takes and by whom it is sent, received, understood, translated, or even refused, the author examines the development and activities of different groups of women and women’s organisations in China, thus developing an alternative form of travelling theory. A study of the cross-cultural translation of knowledge and practices that occur or fail to occur when different cultures interact, and their impact, this book will appeal to scholars of gender studies, sociology and cultural studies with interests in feminist thought and the travel and production of knowledge.
Additional text
'In this vitally important narrative, Min Dongchao skillfully weaves feminist theory, historical scholarship, and personal experience into her examinations of the power-inflected intricacies of notions of "travel" and "translation" alongside the idiosyncratic pathways of academic and activist openings in post-Mao Chinese feminisms. Highly recommended for anyone interested in understanding the evolution of feminist and intellectual discourses in China today.'- Sharon R. Wesoky, Allegheny College, USA
'The value of this book is in its content and its methodological approach - both of which have implications for fields of study within the arts and humanities other than gender, women's studies and feminism; including but not limited to art history, history and cultural studies. It breaks open a discourse that might be preventing deep transnational engagement on the topic of feminism.' - Linda Jean Pittwood, Journal of Contemporary Chinese Art
‘… a fascinating piece of work that combines historical and theoretical scholarship, and interrogates fundamental questions about transnational feminism and Chinese feminism. Written in clear language and employing a lucid style, this book will become an indispensable reference for anyone interested in feminism, China and translation.’ - Hongwei Bao, Feminist Encounters: A Journal of Critical Studies in Culture and Politics
