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November 09, 2009
A lecture by Yiqun Zhou: Women, Religion, and Sociability in Ancient China and Greece
The Departments of Asian Languages & Cultures and Women's Studies
Present a lecture by
Yiqun Zhou
Stanford University
Women, Religion, and Sociability in Ancient China and Greece
4pm, Monday, November 16, 2009
1022 Thayer Building (First Floor)
This talk examines the role of religion in shaping two distinctive patterns of female sociability in ancient China and Greece (c. 10th-4th centuries BCE). Comparisons and contrasts will be drawn between the forms, spaces, and ideologies of the religious festivities—from household feasts to public festivals—in which women participated in the two ancient societies. Whereas the sacrificial banquet in honor of patrilineal ancestors epitomized the ideal Chinese familial and sociopolitical order, festivals that featured competitive homosocial activities were at the center of Greek religious life. The talk will focus on how religion served crucial but different functions in defining women's identities and forming their social ties in the two influential classical traditions.
Posted by zzhu at November 9, 2009 02:06 PM