In the names of Chinese women

Abstract

Responding to a political paradox, in which even liberatory movements can also be oppressive, this essay offers an approach to forming feminist alliances and building community. It does so in relation to the names given to Chinese women. Neither feminist scholarship nor Chinese studies in our field has come to grips with the deep, culturally embedded, and politically significant meaning of these names. Through an analysis of two names, Zhao Di and Qiou Jin, this essay advances theory enabling us to link and enrich rhetorical, feminist and intercultural studies on the one hand and to break through the limits of inlertextuality and self‐reflexivity on the other.

Key words:

• Chinese women
• naming practices
• identity
• reflexivity
• inter‐rhetoricity