Ornamentalism
By Anne Anlin Cheng
Publication Year: 2019
Type: Non-fiction
Genre: art, feminism, critical race theory, academia, literary theory
Read on 2019-10-13
View additional specs on this book in Muhan’s 2019 Reading Survey ➞
★★★★★
Ornamentalism offers one of the first sustained and original theories of Asiatic femininity. Examining ornamentality, in lieu of Orientalism, as a way to understand the representation, circulation, and ontology of Asiatic femininity, this study extends our vocabulary about the woman of color beyond the usual platitudes about objectification. (Goodreads)
Anne Anlin Chen is my hero. This book thinks through all my deeply personal/political but also academic/curatorial/editorial questions about race in America and proffers so many fertile morsels (some indubitably grotesque, some uneasily beautiful) through which to digest these questions. Chen weaves deftly through of dense theory, art history, pop culture, literature, and more with truly great writing throughout. I don’t often buy or keep books after reading them anymore, but this is one I know I will return to over and over.
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