Love and Marriage in Globalizing China: (ASAA Women in Asia Series)

As China globalizes, the number of marriages between Chinese people and foreigners is increasing. These Chinese--foreign marriages have profound implications for China’s cultural identity. This book, based on extensive original research, outlines the different types of Chinese--foreign marriage, and divorce, and the changing scale and changing patterns of such marriages, and divorces, and examines how such marriages and divorces are portrayed in different kinds of media. It shows how those types of Chinese--foreign marriage where Chinese patriotism and Chinese values are preserved are depicted favourably, whereas other kinds of Chinese--foreign marriage, especially those where Chinese women marry foreign nationals, are disapproved of, male foreign nationals being seen as having a propensity to infidelity, deception, violence and taking advantage of Chinese women. The book contrasts the portrayal of Chinese--foreign marriage with the reality, and with the depiction of Chinese--Chinese marriage where many of the same problems apply. Overall, the book sheds much light on changing social processes and on current imaginings of China’s place in the world.

Table of Contents:
1. Introduction: Chinese–Foreign Marriage 2. Obstacles, Statistics and Regulations 3. Newspaper Coverage of Chinese–Foreign Marriage 4. Newspaper Coverage of Chinese–Foreign Divorce 5. Celebrity Chinese–Foreign Marriage 6. Celebrity Chinese–Foreign Divorce 7. Documenting Chinese–Foreign Marriage 8. Television Talk Shows 9. Concluding Comments

About the Author :
Wang Panis a Postgraduate Researcher at University of Technology Sydney, Australia.

Review :
Teachers and researchers may find the charts and statistics on marriage patterns useful. This book is less informative for those looking for how racial categories and prejudice may have affected and differentiated Chinese attitudes toward Chinese-foreign unions. - L. Ma, State University of New York at Buffalo "This book very compellingly carves the contemporary Chinese imagination of China’s position in the new global order out of the phenomenon of Chinese-foreign marriages. It is clearly written and structured with relevant background information, making it not only useful for scholars and students of China studies, (im)migration studies and celebrity studies, but also interesting to the general public." - Pi Chenying, Heidelberg University Germany