Lies that bind : Chinese truth, other truths / Susan D. Blum.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Blum, Susan Debra.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Truthfulness and falsehood--China.

Truthfulness and falsehood.

Social values--China.

Social values.

China.

Physical Description:

viii, 233 pages ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Lanham : Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., [2007]

Summary:

This Provocative book explores the ideology of truth and deception in China, offering a nuanced perspective on social interaction in different cultural settings. Drawing on decades of fieldwork in China, Susan D. Blum offers an authoritative examination of rules, expectations, and beliefs regarding lying and honesty in society. Blum points to a propensity for deception in Chinese public interactions in situations where people in the United States would expect truthfulness, yet argues that lying is evaluated within Chinese society by moral standards different from those of Americans. Chinese, for example, might emphasize the consequences of speech, while Americans focus on absolute truthfulness. Blum considers the longstanding values that led to this style of interaction, as well as more recent factors, such as the government's control over expression. But Chinese society is not alone in the practice of such customs. The author observes that many Americans also excel in manipulation of language, yet simultianeously espouse a moral absolutism opposed to lying in any form. She also considers other traditions including Japanese and Jewish-that struggle to control the boundaries of lying, balancing human needs with moral values in contrasting ways. Deception and lying, the book concludes, are distinctively cultural yet universal-inseparable from what it is to be a human being equipped with language in all its subtlety.

Contents:

Deception and truth

Truth, lying, and deception : Blum's Maxims for China

China present

Tricks and traps : deception and cleverness

For their own good : benevolent deception and flattery

State secrets and fakes : the true, the real, the transparent, and the squelched

Longing for honesty

China past

Crooked and straight : right action and strategy in premodern China

A social theory of truth : language in revolutionary China

Humanity and language

Truth and deception across time and space

Knowing how to play with words and minds

Appendix : theoretical foundations and implications.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 197-218) and index.

ISBN:

074255404X

9780742554047

0742554058

9780742554054

OCLC:

70122413