Romanticism in China
Nicholas Tapp, Department of Anthropology, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University
Some Thoughts on Minority Images and Aspirations In this paper I examine some aspects of 'romanticism' in China, and ask how it may have informed images of otherness represented by ethnic minorities, as well as informing the worldviews of minorities themselves. As China enters a new era in which consumption occupies an increasingly important role in the economy and social life, a new romanticism is animating views of minorities as representing exotic alternative lifestyles, and a newly hedonistic ethos is leading to new aspirations and hopes which express themselves in consumption orientations among many of the minority peoples. It may be argued that this, rather than simple poverty, is what is partly driving the mass migrations of ethnic minorities, together with Han people, to the cities and urban centres in search of new work opportunities, new lives of ease and pleasure.
