Portraits of 'primitives': Ordering Human Kinds in the Chinese Nation

Part 1 Part I: Ethnicity in Context Chapter 2 Introduction: Against Authenticity: Self, Identity, and Nation-Building Chapter 3 Fieldwork in Kunming: Cognitive and Linguistic Anthropological Approaches Chapter 4 Desire for Difference: Cognitive Prototypes of Ethnic Identity Chapter 5 China's Minorities Through Han Eyes: A Preliminary Sketch Part 6 Part II: Prototypes of Otherness Chapter 7 The Fetishized Ethnic Other: The Dai Chapter 8 Resistant, Disliked Ethnic Others: Wa, Zang, and Hui Chapter 9 Colorful, Harmless Ethnic Others: Naxi and Yi Chapter 10 Almost Us: The Bai Next Door Chapter 11 Conclusion: Typification and Identity in a Complex Nation-State

Susan D. Blum is associate professsor of anthropology at the University of Notre Dame.

...frequently both charming and insightful. Journal Of The Royal Anthropological Institute The book's strength lies in its ethnographic material. Western scholars have often paid attention to how Han Chinese talk about ethnic minorities, but until Blum, no one bothered to systematically investigate Han views. China Journal Blum not only provides a unique study of majority Chinese attitudes towards minority groups, but also explains modern anthropological theories of ethnicity in a wonderfully readable way. This well-done and workmanlike study not only provides an excellent account of ethnic stereotyping in south China; it also would be an ideal case study to use in classes in ethnicity. Recommended for all levels, and for collections in contemporary China, ethnicity and identity, and stereotypes and the social construction of belief systems. CHOICE For examining issues of difference, identity, stereotypes, and cognition, the book will prove useful to scholars and students alike. Journal of Asian Studies Portraits of 'Primitives' tells a story with which we are in various ways familiar, but which has never yet been told with such clarity and thoroughness. China Quarterly This is the first thoroughgoing study of Han perspectives about minorities. A very important contribution to our understanding of Chinese society and ethnicity in general. -- Dru Gladney, University of Hawai'i