Body, Space and Postmodernity

★ A classic work by Wang Min'an, a well-known scholar and professor at Tsinghua University, which is widely loved by readers.
★ An academic work that is as beautiful, clear and fascinating as "Modernity".
Professor Wang Min'an's explanation of the theory is easy to understand and the reading experience is excellent. He possesses a Benjamin temperament that is rare in China. His academic essays are fluent, easy to read, and full of charm.
The body is the last piece of private property. What is its entanglement with desire, society, and power? How can it break through the layers of obstruction and make its own voice heard?
The lockdowns amid the pandemic, the loss of a sense of home in cities, the fierce competition for living space, the confinement of objects in shopping malls... What is the essence of these spatial issues? And how do they plague each of us?
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【Content Introduction】
This book compiles the research findings of renowned scholar and Tsinghua University professor Wang Min'an on topics such as the body and space. Divided into three parts: "Technologies of the Body," "Politics of Space," and "Genealogies of Postmodernity," it comprises nineteen articles. The six articles in the first part discuss the body's place in Western academic history and its role in real-world political life. The six articles in the second part examine the author's research on the question of space, focusing on the sociology of the body and how power confines the individual body within space. The seven articles in the third part offer insightful critiques of major postmodern theorists, including Derrida, Roland Barthes, Georges Bataille, and Foucault, as well as a review of the development of postmodern theory.
Professor Wang Min'an examines the relationship between the individual body, social life, and modern politics from the theoretical perspective of postmodern philosophy. His insights are subtle, his excavations are in-depth, and his expressions are incisive. This will allow readers to gain a deeper understanding and inspiration of the body, various spaces, postmodern philosophy, and its research methods.
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Professor Wang Min'an's collection of essays on the body, space, and postmodernism, three core concepts in contemporary philosophical theory, combines profound scholarship with engaging, everyday experiences. Both his prose and analytical prowess are truly remarkable. Personally, I believe that among Chinese scholars, Professor Wang most embodies the temperament and style of Benjamin.
—— Jianghaiyiweng (Douban user)
While I agree that academic writing doesn't require literary grace, there are indeed scholars who can imbue complex theories with the deliberate craft of word choice and sentence structure, such as Professor Wang. The writing on "Hair" and "Carrefour" is a complete imitation of Barthes. Professor Wang offers a precise metaphor for the fragmentary and aphoristic writing styles of Nietzsche and Barthes. From this perspective, Professor Wang may be the kind of Barthesian scholar he describes: someone who conquers their subject (theory) with a sense of leisure and ease.
——Level 2 Dazed Person (Douban Netizen)

2022-01-01

南京大学出版社

Nanjing University Press·Watchman

344

9787305247101