Mariages modernes pour une Chine moderne
Compte rendu de la thèse de Charlotte Lucia Cowden, Balancing Rites and Rights: The Social and Cultural Politics of New-Style Weddings in Republican Shanghai, 1898-1953, par Yun XIA.
In her dissertation, Charlotte Cowden traces the evolution of new-style weddings between the last decade of the Qing dynasty (1644-1911) and the first years of Communist rule. A new-style wedding may vary in form, but to Cowden, it has to involve free choice of one’s own spouse and elimination of a dowry. She places the introduction, popularization and codification of new-style weddings in the context of China’s struggle for modernity, considering the roles of Republican policies, market forces and popular practice in shaping weddings. Read more