Sound, space and moral soundscapes in Ruyijun zhuan and Chipozi zhuan

Abstract

AbstractThis paper employs methods from phenomenology, anthropology and literary criticism to theorise the deployment of sound in two early works of erotic fiction from sixteenth-century China: Ruyijun zhuan ([The tale of ] The Lord of Perfect Satisfaction) and Chipozi zhuan (A tale of an infatuated woman). After assessing the significance of the two novels in relation to problems of gender ideology in the period, as well as the treatment of sound, noisiness and gender in two Tang dynasty works, the paper demonstrates how almost all occurrences of non-verbal or involuntary sounds in the novels are attached to the moral positioning of their women protagonists in relation to gender norms. Whil..