Description
Book SynopsisMila Zuo offers a new theorization of cinematic feminine beauty by showing how mediated encounters with Chinese film and popular culture stars produce feelings of Chinese-ness.
Trade Review“In this gorgeously written book, Mila Zuo captures how Chinese female film stars perform beauty in ways that reflect their negotiation with the racial sexualization of their femininity. With a rigorous and lucid ferocity, Zuo boldly brings together critical theory, philosophy, aesthetics, women of color feminism, feminist film theory, and performance theory to help us understand Chinese women’s presences on screen. Fearless and powerful,
Vulgar Beauty is a pleasure to read.” -- Celine Parreñas Shimizu, author of * The Proximity of Other Skins: Ethical Intimacy in Global Cinema *
"[Zuo's] metaphoric language, mostly revolving around food, offers the reader not only an intellectual exploration of the power of vulgar beauty to destabilize racial and patriarchal power structures but also a flavorful and aesthetic journey in and of itself." -- E. Nastacia Schmoll * Lateral *
"Anyone interested in performance, in gender and sexuality, in race on an international stage, in Chinese politics and history in this century of suffering, needs to read this book. Anyone hungry, voracious perhaps, for interdisciplinary diasporic and transnational critique that engages not only with cultural but also intellectual traditions from China and Korea had better prepare to feast." -- Vivian L. Huang * Film-Philosophy *
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments vii
Introduction: Tasting Vulgar Beauty 1
1. Bitter Medicine, Racial Flavor: Gong Li 39
2. Salty-Cool: Maggie Cheung and Joan Chen 73
3. Pungent Atmospheres: Bai Ling and Tang Wei 113
4. Sweet and Soft Coupling: Vivian Hsu and Shu Qi 152
5. Sour Laughter: Charlyne Yi and Ali Wong 193
Conclusion: Aftertaste 234
Notes 241
Bibliography 267
Index 289
