Lexington Books
Pages: 208
Trim: 6¼ x 9⅜
978-0-7391-8847-7 • Hardback • October 2014 • $128.00 • (£98.00)
978-0-7391-8848-4 • eBook • October 2014 • $121.50 • (£94.00)
Liang Shi is associate professor of Chinese language and literature at Miami University.
Chapter 1: Mirror Rubbing: A Critical Genealogy of Pre-Modern Chinese Female Same-Sex Eroticism
Chapter 2: From Mirror Rubbing to Lesbianism: A Critical Genealogy of Modern Chinese Female Same-Sex Eroticism
Chapter 3: Prototypes of Lesbian Relations
Chapter 4: Discovering and Normalizing Lesbians: Fish and Elephant
Chapter 5: Sacrifice of Innocence: Redefining Sexuality in Zhu Yiye’s Film Lost in You
Chapter 6: Lost and Found: Fluidity of Sexuality in Love Mime
Chapter 7: Love in a Forgotten Corner: Female Same-Sex Desire in Rural China
The term ‘groundbreaking’ is not strong enough to adequately characterize the insightful contents of Chinese Lesbian Cinema. Utilizing a variety of critical approaches, Liang Shi identifies and explores an important subgenre of underground films that have to date been virtually ignored by media scholars. This book offers incisive analyses of little-seen lesbian-themed films from mainland China, informed by interview responses from their (perhaps unexpectedly) heterosexual, non-activist makers who have little hope of ever reaping profits from their creations. The end result is a must-read text that effectively challenges typical conceptions of lesbian filmmaking as it is characterized in contemporary global discourse.
— Kylo-Patrick R. Hart, Texas Christian University