"The book makes a strong contribution to Asian queer studies through an in-depth theorization
of queer kinship in the Chinese context, a comprehensive coverage of different types of queer
media and popular culture, and an innovative discussion of homonormativity in the context
of contemporary China. In a fast-developing and very competitive academic field, this book
stands out as an important contribution."
—Hongwei Bao, University of Nottingham
"Queering Chinese Kinship represents the cutting edge of Chinese queer studies. Its
sophisticated media analyses and provocative theoretical contentions reveal two central
paradoxes: the interdependence of queerness and kinship despite China's notoriously
homophobic patriarchal familism, and the flourishing of queer public culture in spite of its
infamously restrictive media environment. Brilliantly demonstrating how queer possibility
emerges through a confluence of familial, media, state, and market forces, this book is a joy to
read and a major contribution to the field."
—Fran Martin, University of Melbourne
What does it mean to be queer in a Confucian society in which kinship roles, ties, and ideologies
are of such great importance? This book makes sense of queer cultures in China—a country
with one of the largest queer populations in the world—and offers an alternative to EuroAmerican
blueprints of queer individual identity. This book contends that kinship relations must
be understood as central to any expression of queer selfhood and culture in contemporary
cultural production in China. Using a critical approach—"queering Chinese kinship"—Lin Song
scrutinizes the relationship between queerness and family relations, and questions Eurocentric
queer culture's frequent assumption of the separation of queerness from blood family.
。ffering five case studies of queer representations across a range of media genres, this book
also challenges the tendency in current scholarship on Chinese and East Asian queerness to
understand queer cultures as predominantly counter-mainstream, marginal, and underground.
Shedding light on the representations of queerness and kinship in independent and subcultural
as well as commercial and popular cultural products, the book presents a more comprehensive
picture of queerness and kinship in flux and highlights queer politics as an integral part of
contemporary Chinese public culture.
Lin Song is a lecturer in the School of Journalism and Communication, Jinan University in
Guangzhou, China.
Cover image: Chi Zhe Wan Li De, Kan Zhe Guo Li De 吃著碗裡的，想著鍋裡的
[Eyeing what's in the pot while eating from the bowl].©2008 by Xiyadie
西亞蝶Reproduced with permission of Xiyadie.