Unmasking power dynamics in ethnic literature
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Date
2017-03
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Abstract
Chinese population is divided in 56 ethnic groups (minzu). From the nation-state perspective, an ethnicity is a clear-cut category: one either belongs to it or does not. In the domains of Chinese ethnic literature (shaoshu minzu wenxue) and Chinese ethnic literary studies (shaoshu minzu wenxue yanjiu), boundaries are determined by the ethnicity of the author or by the ethnic characteristics associated with a literary text. Ethnicity is hence pivotal in governing the classification of literary texts and canalizing scholarly debate. In this paper, I take as a case study the Hui, one of the largest ethnic groups in China, to challenge (1) the notion of ethnicity as a monolithic and clearly defined entity and (2) the mainstream approach of compartmentalizing authors and literary texts according to their alleged ethnicity. Instead of debating definitions of Huiness, I advocate for displacing the debate on works by and about the Hui.
Description
Humanities: 2nd Place (The Ohio State University Edward F. Hayes Graduate Research Forum)
Keywords
China, group, literature, modern