La fatalité des meiren : Usages de l’histoire des marieuses traditionnelles comme justification à l’intermédiation matrimoniale en Chine contemporaine

Pettier, Jean-Baptiste

doi:10.3406/etchi.2017.1590

Cited by 4 publications

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“…4 In contrast to their predecessors, today's reunions assemble cohorts of parents who come on a more or less consistent basis. Although some Chinese historians argue that today's xi angq ın (matrimonial presentation) practices are simply an extension of ancient Chinese societal traditions (Hao, 2010), the old sayings they quote do not explain the observable aspects of the exchanges occurring in these parks (Pettier, 2017(Pettier, , 2019. I infer instead that the parental gatherings in the urban parks of present day China are in fact a new phenomenon of the early 21st century.…”

Section: Marriage Cornersmentioning

confidence: 89%

“…Previously, I have examined the emotionality of this research site as methodologically important to understand the current state of Chinese society (Pettier 2016), I also worked on the debates concerning the place of romantic love within them (Pettier 2018), and on the reinvention of the role of the matchmaker (Pettier, 2017(Pettier, , 2019. In this article, I examine the social institution of these marriage corners itself.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Marrying the perfect child — Middle class norms and intergenerational arrangements in the marriage corners of urban China

Pettier

2020

Ethnography

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Caught in the context of a highly competitive development process, within the framework of a policy which limited their reproductive capacity to a single child, PRC urban families have, in recent decades, attached growing importance to their child's education, aiming to lead them to professional and personal success. This, however, also had an impact on the capacities of many young adults to marry early. In this context, the phenomenon of “marriage corners” mushroomed in large cities all over China beginning in the mid-2000s. Within China, this new practice generated criticism. These markets are seen as displaying conservative forms of marriage arrangement, the disregarding of romantic love, and forms of intergenerational power organization that may be considered backwards. However, by the criticisms it generates but as well the forms of relationships that it displays, the phenomenon can allow for a better understanding of the transformation of inter-generational relationships amongst urban middle-class, and on the norms framing the lives of the new generation.

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Section: Marriage Cornersmentioning

confidence: 89%

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confidence: 99%

Marrying the perfect child — Middle class norms and intergenerational arrangements in the marriage corners of urban China

Pettier

2020

Ethnography

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“A question of bank notes, cars, and houses!” Matchmaking and the Moral Economy of Love in Urban China

Pettier

2022

Comp Stud Soc Hist

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Chinese practices of matchmaking have been controversial for over a century. Their continued transformations reveal a complex nexus of sentimental and material dimensions in the marriage-decision process at the heart of the negotiations between families and in their selections of proper candidates. This interplay between personal sentiments, concrete considerations, and the desire for success makes marriage controversial, as “love” is claimed and proclaimed at the same time. Moral debates around materialism, which have reverberated through the public sphere over the last decade, show how “love” acts as a tool of social reproduction while it also expresses sincere aspirations for an emotionally satisfying life. In comparative perspective, the complex of romantic love examined here reveals a recent, original synthesis of the tradition of parental arrangement and the political question of the place of love in modernity. The paper elucidates one of the contradictions within Chinese society today: the family remains central, but wider trends of individualization continue to unfold. A multifaceted understanding of love clarifies how it can bind families together while it also discourages others from pursuing romance.

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La morale et le désir : sexualité, genre et inégalité en Chine contemporaine

Pettier¹

2020

Autrepart

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La période de réformes économiques qui s’est ouverte à partir des années 1980 en Chine a été associée de manière récurrente à la fois à une période de libération sexuelle et de réaffirmation des identités sexuées. Prostitution et pornographie ont gagné une place publique de plus en plus prégnante, par la généralisation de pratiques de corruption au service de décideurs masculins. Le débat public chinois a dans ce contexte produit une critique sévère de l’irréalisme des idéaux de l’ère maoïste, tout en s’inquiétant de l’occidentalisation supposée des nouvelles générations. Le point commun le plus notable à ces débats est le rejet du constructivisme par l’acceptation généralisée du désir sexuel, en particulier masculin, comme « besoin naturel ». Deux morales, l’une prônant la maîtrise du désir, l’autre son accomplissement, s’y opposent. Le discours qui s’est imposé situe ainsi la question du désir sexuel entre animalité et civilisation en le considérant à la fois comme normal et comme répréhensible, et en en faisant ainsi un enjeu de l’identité morale chinoise.

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La fatalité des meiren : Usages de l’histoire des marieuses traditionnelles comme justification à l’intermédiation matrimoniale en Chine contemporaine

Cited by 4 publications

References 0 publications

Marrying the perfect child — Middle class norms and intergenerational arrangements in the marriage corners of urban China

Marrying the perfect child — Middle class norms and intergenerational arrangements in the marriage corners of urban China

“A question of bank notes, cars, and houses!” Matchmaking and the Moral Economy of Love in Urban China

La morale et le désir : sexualité, genre et inégalité en Chine contemporaine

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