Training the Body for China is an interesting examination of the way cultures influence how bodies, athletics, and physicality in general are viewed, and how these bodies can in turn exert influence on a culture. One interesting element of Brownell’s study is how athletics in China were consistently connected to national interests. To some extent,…
Brownell response
by Maria •
I will admit that it was a little boring for me this time around, but I believe that it was because I was expecting more of an anthropological perspective than a historical perspective when I started reading this book. The way it was introduced made it start out with her experiences and maybe going into…
Brownell response
by Keenan T •
Susan Brownell’s book Training the Body for China I think gives an extreme form of the growing nationalism around organized sports. People in China, at least from what she said, seem to care a lot more about beating international rivals, specifically Japan, and find a lot more satisfaction in victory than other countries seem to.…
Sports Are Not My Thing (And The Final Paper Topic)
by Oliver •
Training the Body for China was a difficult read in some ways for me. I grew up with little understanding of sports or sports culture. The idea of spending evenings rooting for teams never entered my household. Beyond that, when I was assigned to play sports, I never felt any pressure to do well. This…
Speculation on China’s Uncertain Future (and topic)
by Patrick Anderson •
I don’t think a very hard idea to grasp from Brownell’s book is that sports are important in China. Both individuals and the state use sports to further specific motivations, like upward social movement for the former and international competition for the latter. The level of dedication to ideals of the body and sport present…
Reading Response and Tentative Topic for Final
by Griffin H. •
The concept of Nationalism tied to sports really does, ultimately, prove that Sports are essentially small-scale wars. I think it also creates a question of who is “playing” the game: the players, or the people with investment who watch? The way sports/body-culture have shaped propaganda and vice versa brings to question the sorts of motivations behind…
Tentative Topics
by Skye •
China and the Topic of Choice
by cgill •
Brownell focuses on three main assumptions from the beginning and it slowly weaves through the text. These three assumptions basically state: 1) sports are to be analyzed as one set of practices to do with one’s body, 2) power relations are at play, and 3) sporting events make the body a cultural artifact, thus play…
Response
by Skye •
Training the Body for China is a complex book. The book did not confuse me, but I had mixed feelings. Because I thought Susan Brownwell, being an anthropologist, would tell her story about her experience playing and competing in sports in China. I understand the structure of her book, her explaining the rigors and rules…
What if they lose their next match?
by cjakob •
An immense amount of pressure was placed on Chinese athletes by the communist regime. Early in the piece Brownell quotes a narration posted under a picture depicting the May 19 China-Hong soccer tournament that ended in a riot, that states “A nation which in its heart can no longer afford to lose” (p.78). Sports in…