Description
Brownell (anthropology, U. of Missouri at St. Louis) surveys a broad range of issues connected to the holding of the Olympic games in China, including Orientalism and colonialism and their influence on Western perceptions of China's involvement in the games; the comparative histories of Olympic sports and Chinese martial arts; the symbolism of stadiums, state power, and national identity in Beijing; gender, sport, and Chinese popular nationalism; politics and China's relationship with the International Olympic Committee; and Cold War negativism in Western sports coverage of the Olympics in China. Annotation ©2008 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
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Why is hosting the Olympic Games so important to China? What is the significance of a quintessential symbol of Western civilization taking place in the heart of the Far East? Will the Olympics change China, or will China change the Olympics? Susan Brownell sets the historical and cultural contexts for the 2008 Beijing Olympics Games by placing it within the context of China's hundred-year engagement with the Olympic movement to illuminate what the Games mean to China and what the Beijing Olympic Games will mean for China's relationship with the outside world. Brownell's deeply informed analysis ranges from nineteenth-century orientalism to Cold War politics and post-Cold War "China bashing." Drawing on her more than two decades of engagement in Chinese sports, the author presents evocative stories and first-person accounts to paint a human picture of the passion that many Chinese people feel for the Olympic Games. It will also be essential reading for journalists and sports enthusiasts who want to understand the fascinating story behind the Beijing Olympics.
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