Description
Book SynopsisOpen-access edition: DOI 10.6069/9780295805979This ethnography explores contemporary narratives of Han-ness, revealing the nuances of what Han identity means today in relation to that of the fifty-five officially recognized minority ethnic groups in China, as well as in relation to home place identities and the country's national identity. Based on research she conducted among native and migrant Han in Shanghai and Beijing, Aqsu (in Xinjiang), and the Sichuan-Yunnan border area, Agnieszka Joniak-Luthi uncovers and discusses these identity topographies. Bringing into focus the Han majority, which has long acted as an unexamined backdrop to ethnic minorities, Joniak-Luthi contributes to the emerging field of critical Han studies as she considers how the Han describe themselves - particularly what unites and divides them - as well as the functions of Han identity and the processes through which it is maintained and reproduced. The Han will appeal to scholars and students of contemporary C
Trade Review"Contemporary anthropological research infrequently focuses on the Han, who constitute 91.5 percent of the Chinese population. Social anthropologist Joniak-Lüthi takes a big step “to explore the Han and Han-ness”… An ambitious work, similar to defining America and Americanism. Recommended."
* Choice *
"This should be a must-read for anyone interested in historical and contemporary notions of identity in China."
-- Carla Nappi * New Books Network *
"I am constantly intrigued by what it means to be Han. . . . Agnieszka Joniak-Lüthi's remarkable new book casts light on this question, and reveals Hanness as a slippery and multivalent designation. . . . The fieldwork undertaken by the author for this study, and the deep analysis to which she has subjected it, has produced a wonderful contribution to scholarship on the Han, but I believe it illumines also the ways in which we all see ourselves."
-- Simon Wickhamsmith * New Books Asia *
Table of ContentsForeword by Stevan Harrell
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. Narrating “the Han”
2. Contemporary Narratives of Han-ness
3. Topographies of Identity
4. Othering, Exclusion, and Discrimination
5. Fragmented Identities, the Han Minzu, and Ethnicity
Epilogue
Notes
Glossary of Chinese Characters
References
Index
