ABSTRACT

The significance of Shu-mei Shih’s conception of the “Sinophone” lies in its theoretical dexterity and fluidity, particularly in contrast to the categorical rigidities of the more problematic “Greater China,” against which it offers a politically productive alternative. In mediating between the local and the global,

[t]he Sinophone is a place-based, everyday practice and experience, and thus it is a historical formation that constantly undergoes transformation reflecting local needs and conditions. It can be a site of both a longing for and a rejection of various constructions of Chineseness. 1