Days in the Heart: an Emotional Anthropological Study of Xihe Qiqiao
About This Novel
This book is an ethnography of emotional anthropology. It attempts to apply Western theories of emotional anthropology to empirical research in China. At the same time, it reflects on Western anthropology's representation of Chinese people's emotional life, and on the basis of empirical research, it refines a pair of local concepts - heart and madness. The ethnographic investigation object of this book is Qiqiao in Xihe County, Gansu Province. The author strictly followed anthropological research methods and completed a one-year field investigation in Xihe County. The main part of the book unfolds sequentially according to the ritual process of Xihe's Qiqiao. With the focus on the live participants of the ritual, Xihe's Qiqiao ritual shows the duality of worshiping gods and entertainment, and also shows the two complementary and tense emotions of the ritual participants in different life situations. Types of feelings, namely directional emotions and non-directional emotions discovered and named in this book, from which we can see how the Xihe people release the suppressed emotions in daily and social life through ritual activities, and how they focus on their hearts through other cultural activities like begging for skill. The conclusion of this book points out that the proposal of non-directional emotions emphasizes treating people as a whole, which is a reflection on rationalism. It also points out the importance of emotional consciousness and the possibility of the generation of social subjects.
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