Review of Giovanni Vitiello. 'The Libertine's Friend: Homosexuality and Masculinity in Late Imperial China'. Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, 2011. 312 pp. $45.00 cloth, ISBN 9780226857923; $7.00 to $36.00 E-format, ISBN 9780226857954

Abstract

In setting out the aims of 'The Libertine's Friend' in his introduction, Giovanni Vitiello describes his work as a history of male homoeroticism in pre-modern China, with a focus on what may be learned from "ideologies of masculinity and romantic love as they are represented in fictional works spanning roughly three hundred years - from 'Stories from the Water Margin to Precious Mirror for Ranking Flowers', printed in 1550 and 1849, respectively" (p. 1). The resulting volume is a very welcome contribution to our understanding of the status of male homoeroticism in late imperial literati culture: a thorough, thoughtful and witty study representing two decades of patient work with the historical sources while at the same time taking careful note of developments in contemporary scholarship and debate.