Beijing's Games: What the Olympics Mean to China

Susan Brownell

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Incorporated, 2008 - History - 213 pages

Click here to see an article on Beijing's Games and Susan Brownell in the Wall Street Journal. Why is hosting the Olympic Games so important to China? What is the significance of a quintessential symbol of Western civilization taking place in the heart of the Far East? Will the Olympics change China, or will China change the Olympics? Susan Brownell sets the historical and cultural stage for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games by exploring the vital links among sports, gender, state power, Chinese nationalism, and China's national image in the West over the past century. She places the 2008 Games within the context of China's hundred-year engagement with the Olympic movement to illuminate what the Games mean to China and what the Beijing Olympic Games will mean for China's relationship with the outside world. Brownell's deeply informed analysis ranges from nineteenth-century orientalism to Cold War politics and post-Cold War "China bashing." Drawing on her decades of engagement as a college athlete in China, university professor, media expert, and advisor to the International Olympic Committee, the author utilizes her personal experiences and access to unique sources to paint an evocative and human picture of the passion that many Chinese people feel for the Olympic Games. Her book will appeal to scholars and students across the social sciences. It will also be essential reading for journalists and sports enthusiasts who want to understand the fascinating story behind the Beijing Olympics.

About the author

Susan Brownell is professor and chair of the Department of Anthropology and the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. She has lifelong experience in the world of sports, beginning with her career as a nationally ranked U.S. track-and-field athlete and including her experience as a national champion college athlete in China and an advisor to the International Olympic Committee. To view the author discussing her book at the Virginia Festival of the Book, visit http://charlottesville.granicus.com

Bibliographic information

• Title: Beijing's Games: What the Olympics Mean to China; Beijing's Games Series
• Author: Susan Brownell
• Edition: illustrated
• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Incorporated, 2008
• ISBN: 0742556417, 9780742556416
• Length: 213 pages
• Subjects: History / Asia / China; Political Science / International Relations / General; Sports & Recreation / General; Sports & Recreation / Olympics