Queer politics and sexual modernity in Taiwan [electronic resource] / Hans Tao-Ming Huang.

Issued as part of UPCC book collections on Project MUSE.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [247]-269) and index.

Introduction -- 1. Mental hygiene and the regime of sexuality : the case of the man who escapes marriage -- 2. Prostitution, perversion and AIDS : the secrets of the "glass clique" -- 3. State power, prostitution and sexual order : towards a genealogical critique of "virtuous custom" -- 4. From glass clique to Tongzhi Nation : crystal boys, identity formation and politics of sexual shame -- 5. Modernising gender, civilising sex : state feminism and perverse imagination -- 6. Mourning the monogamous ideal : anti-prostitution feminism, conjugal sentimentality and the formation of melancholic sexual modernity -- Epilogue -- Notes -- Glossary of special names and terms -- Bibliography -- Index.

This book analyses the critical reception of Pai Hsien-yung's Crystal Boys, one of Taiwan's first recognized gay novels, and one which has played an important role in redefining sexual modernity and linking this to ongoing cultural dialogues on state building. It examines the deployment of sexuality over the past five decades in Taiwan by paying particular attention to male homosexuality and prostitution. In addition to literary and film material, the study engages a number of relevant legal cases and media reports. Through Hans Huang's primary research and historical investigations, the book not only illuminates the construction of gendered sexual identities in Taiwanese culture but also, in a reflexive fashion, critiques the culture that produces them.

In English, with pasages translated from Chinese.

Description based on print version record.