Filial Piety: Practice and Discourse in Contemporary East Asia
Charlotte Ikels
How have rapid industrial development and the aging of the population affected the expression of filial piety in East Asia? Eleven experienced fieldworkers take a fresh look at an old idea, analyzing contemporary behavior, not norms, among both rural and urban families in China, Japan, Korea, and Taiwan. Each chapter presents rich ethnographic data on how filial piety shapes the decisions and daily lives of adult children and their elderly parents. The authors’ ability to speak the local languages and their long-term, direct contact with the villagers and city dwellers they studied lend an immediacy and authenticity lacking in more ... Read more
This book is an ideal text for social science and humanities courses on East Asia because it focuses on shared cultural practices while analyzing the ways these practices vary with local circumstances of history, economics, social organization, and demography and with personal circumstances of income, gender, and family configuration.
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About Charlotte Ikels
Reviews for Filial Piety: Practice and Discourse in Contemporary East Asia
The China Journal "This valuable volume is a must for teaching and learning about this key topic affecting intergenerational relations whether in Asia or elsewhere."
Candian Journal of Sociology Online "This volume presents clear and riveting perspectives from the trenches of ethnographers on the front lines. Its substantive ethnographic ... Read more