1808004302     

Memory making in folk epics of China : the intimate and the local in Chinese regional culture / Anne E. McLaren

McLaren, Anne E., 1955- [Verfasserin/Verfasser]

Amherst, New York : Cambria Press [2022], 2022

xxxviii, 304 Seiten : Karte

Englisch

Includes bibliographical references and index

2207

Erscheint auch als: McLaren, Anne E. (Anne Elizabeth) : Memory making in folk epics of China. - Amherst : Cambria Press, 2022 (Online-Ausgabe)

978-1-62196-645-6 (library binding); 978-1-63857-130-8 (paperback)

978-1-62196-664-7 (ISBN der parallelen Ausgabe); 978-1-62196-665-4 (ISBN der parallelen Ausgabe); 978-1-62196-664-7 (ISBN der parallelen Ausgabe)

2022020998

OCoLC: 1372490015     

GR335

398.20951     Ähnliche Literatur

LOC-SH: Folklore -- China ; Folk songs -- China ; Epic literature, Chinese -- History and criticism ; Fertility -- China -- Folklore ; Rice -- China -- Folklore ; Oral tradition -- China

"This is the first book-length study in the West on the folk epics of the Han Chinese people, who are the majority population of China. These folk epics provide an unparalleled resource for understanding the importance of "the local" in Chinese culture, especially how rice-growing populations perceived their environment and relational world. The folk epics were sung by illiterate farmers while working in the rice paddy or boating along the waterways. It was believed that singing promoted crop fertility and that the rice-plant embodied a female rice spirit whose growth and development paralleled that of human sexuality and procreation. Regarded as "vulgar" due to its erotic content, this song tradition was marginalized and little understood. The erotic content is often removed in editions directed at a national readership. Employing perspectives from memory studies, eco-criticism, and the study of oral traditions, this book examines in detail five iconic folk epics. The author draws on interviews with contemporary song transmitters and ethnologists from the Lake Tai region, as well as a collection of singer transcripts and unedited song material"--