Forthcoming: “Calling for a New Renaissance” by Gao Xingjian

With “Calling for a New Renaissance,” the Nobel Laureate explores his primary aesthetic concerns of the past decade. He criticizes the influence of ideology on art and literature and calls for a new Renaissance that would generate truly innovative creations. Unprecedented in this book is Gao’s insight into how, despite being educated in the People’s Republic of China, he succeeded...

Book Excerpt: “Queer Taiwanese Literature” by Howard Chiang

As the first state to legalize same-sex marriage in Asia and host the first annual gay pride in the Sinophone Pacific, Taiwan is a historic center of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer culture. Taiwan also enjoys a wide interest in its stories about queer Taiwanese people, and “Queer Taiwanese Literature “provides a deeper understanding of queer literary history in...

Book Excerpt from “Resourcing the National Security Enterprise” (Chapter 7)

In chapter 7, “The Defense Budget Process,” of Resourcing the National Security Enterprise: Connecting the Ends and Means of US National Security, Tom McNaugher writes about how the budget process of the Department of Defense. McNaugher says that while the Department of Defense has “funded, over many decades, a remarkably effective military,” it has also funded “a great deal of...

Book Excerpt: “Awkward Stages” by John Clum and Sean Metzger, eds.

While gay teenagers have been central characters in dozens of independent American films, they have seldom appeared on stage until recently. The plays in this volume, written by men (some of whom are the most celebrated playwrights) who were in their late twenties and early thirties, affirm adolescents as subjects active in same-sex relationships. Sexual identity is important to the...

Forthcoming: “Memory in Folk Epics of China” by Anne E. McLaren

In pre-contemporary China, folk epics performed at village level helped create a sense of regional as opposed to national identity. 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...

Book Excerpt from “Resourcing the National Security Enterprise” (Chapter 6)

In chapter 6, “Resourcing Partners and Allies,” of Resourcing the National Security Enterprise: Connecting the Ends and Means of US National Security, Rebecca Patterson gives an overview of how the United Nations plans, budgets, and implements peace operations around the world. Patterson specifically focuses on the role the US government plays in the formulation of peace operations’ mandates and the...

Book Excerpt: “Staging for the Emperors” by Liana Chen

Much scholarly attention has been devoted to understanding the dynamics between the Qing court theatre and the burgeoning popular theatrical traditions outside the court. However, the insights drawn from recent studies have only begun to be applied to the analysis of dramas commissioned by the Qing court for various ceremonial occasions. Treating Qing dynasty court theatre as a unique site...

Forthcoming: “Chinese Poetry as Soul Summoning” by Nicholas Morrow Williams

With “Chinese Poetry as Soul Summoning,” Nicholas Morrow Williams has written a “masterful study of the Elegies of Chu (Chuci)” that looks at the soul of the soul (hun) and the soul-summoning ritual in Chinese literature from ancient times up to the twentieth century. Robert Egan of Stanford University writes: “This is a masterful study of the Elegies of Chu (Chuci), particularly...

Book Excerpt from “Resourcing the National Security Enterprise” (Chapter 5)

In chapter 5, “Resourcing US Diplomatic Priorities,” of Resourcing the National Security Enterprise: Connecting the Ends and Means of US National Security, Geoffrey Odlum examines the foreign policy and foreign assistance planning process and the separate processes for requesting and appropriating resources. Odlum looks at five obstacles to integrating policy and resource planning within Congress, in the Executive Branch “interagency”...

Forthcoming: “Subcontinent Adrift” by Feroz Hassan Khan

With Subcontinent Adrift, Feroz Hassan Khan has written a “must read on the continuing simmering security dangers in South Asia and their impact on the rest of the world.” While several books have looked at the security challenges faced by India and Pakistan in isolation as well as the strategies they have each adopted in response, Subcontinent Adrift places the...

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