Teaching Beyond the Curriculum

Abstract

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Gender inequality that circumscribes female experiences and choices remains a significant issue in China, particularly in rural areas. However, previous studies have undertaken little empirical research on the gendered experiences of young rural Chinese women in the Chinese higher education sector. The present study aims to address this gap in contemporary research by exploring how university campuses provide opportunities for female rural Chinese students to rethink their subjectivity. This exploration is based on data generated through modified ethnography among 21 young Chinese women coming from rural areas and attending universities in Henan. Employing the Foucauldian notions of discourse, power/knowledge, and subjectivity alongside gender and affect theories, this study investigated the discursive affective production of rural university women’s subjectivities. The analysis unfolds in three layers. First, the study explores how university life provides a space for the circulation of counter-discourses represented by Danmei literature. Second, the study focuses on affective atmospheres generated by young women within the context of campus life that foster group identification and a sense of solidarity. Third, the study elucidates how Chinese universities, despite being physically enclosed spaces, are also porous, specifically represented by the online world and social media which enable powerful group identification practices to flourish and influence participants’ subjectivities. Together, this paper argues that although university education for its research participants does not provide formal learning on gender equity, it has become a site for the generation of resistance, refusal, creativity, and new possibilities for rural Chinese girls.