{"product_id":"anecdote-network-gossip-performance-jack-w-chen-9780674251175","title":"Anecdote, Network, Gossip, Performance: Essays on the Shishuo Xinyu","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eAnecdote, Network, Gossip, Performance\u003c\/i\u003e is a study of the \u003ci\u003eShishuo xinyu, \u003c\/i\u003e the most important anecdotal collection of medieval China--and arguably of the entire traditional era. In a set of interconnected essays, Jack W. Chen offers new readings of the \u003ci\u003eShishuo xinyu\u003c\/i\u003e that draw upon social network analysis, performance studies, theories of ritual and mourning, and concepts of gossip and reputation to illuminate how the anecdotes of the collection imagine and represent a political and cultural elite. Whereas most accounts of the \u003ci\u003eShishuo\u003c\/i\u003e have taken a historical approach, Chen argues that the work should be understood in literary terms. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAt its center, \u003ci\u003eAnecdote, Network, Gossip, Performance\u003c\/i\u003e is an extended meditation on the very nature of the anecdote form, both what the anecdote affords in terms of representing a social community and how it provides a space for the rehearsal of certain longstanding philosophical and cultural arguments. Although each of the chapters may be read separately as an essay in its own right, when taken together, they present a comprehensive account of the \u003ci\u003eShishuo\u003c\/i\u003e in all of its literary complexity.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Jack W. Chen\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0674251172\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780674251175\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Harvard University Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 03\/23\/2021\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 300\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.15lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.06h x 5.91w x 1.02d","brand":"Jack W. Chen","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":48086760194303,"sku":"9780674251175","price":60.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_5800318e-2577-40cd-8d0e-91eba7ee3a89.jpg?v=1769096415","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/anecdote-network-gossip-performance-jack-w-chen-9780674251175","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}