Beijing's Games: What the Olympics Mean to China (Latin American Silhouettes) [Paperback]

Susan Brownell (Author)

Book Description

Series: Latin American Silhouettes | Publication Date: January 28, 2008

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.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Brownell's deeply informed analysis ranges from nineteenth-century orientalism to Cold War politics and post-Cold War 'China bashing.'. . . 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. (April 2008 Heppas Books )

From our many conversations spanning more than a decade, I am aware of the exhaustive research and effort Susan Brownell has devoted to understanding China's sports and Olympic culture. One need not agree with all of her assessments and conclusions to appreciate the scholarship and perspective found here. (Bob Costas )

Susan Brownell's Beijing's Games: What the Olympics Mean to China takes the reader on a compelling tour of the myriad factors that had to converge in order for the 2008 Games to be held in Beijing. As a former topflight athlete who speaks Chinese and trained and competed with Chinese women teammates, Brownell has a strongly personal take on virtually every facet of her story: the nationalist and legal implications of Taiwan's case, the missteps of sports announcers, the history of stadium design, problems with steroid use, charges of child abuse in the athletic training process, the pressures on Chinese members of the IOC, gender stereotyping in the media, the claims of China's own martial 'wushu' tradition to be classified as an Olympic sport. This is a thoughtful and often outspoken book that will be of value not just to those traveling to Beijing in August 2008 for the Olympics but also to all those interested in the foibles and the future of international sports competition at the global level. (Jonathan D. Spence )

This book is very good reading. Through the pages of Beijing's Games, you will learn more about this Olympic's history, host country, host city, and invitation to be the 'people's Olympics.' (The Midwest Book Review )

No other American and very few Chinese are as well qualified as Susan Brownell to interpret Chinese Olympic history in its social and cultural context and to imagine what the 2008 Olympics will do to change China and what China might do to change the Olympic movement—for the better. (Allen Guttmann )

Brownell's book contain[s] withering accounts of decades of the International Olympic Committee's clumsiness in handling the two-Chinas problem....Brownell, herself a top track-and-field athlete who participated in the 1986 Chinese National College Games when she was an exchange student, corrects misrepresentations about athlete-automatons, genetic engineering, and child abuse. (July 2008 The New Republic )

Offering insightful, informed analyses, Brownell provides an understanding of the importance to China of hosting the 2008 summer Olympic Games and of what the games mean for China's relationship with the outside world. Brownell highlights historical and cultural context....The author has personal experience in the Chinese sports world, and she brings a human side to understanding the importance and passion felt by the Chinese as hosts of the 2008 Olympic Games....this book tells an intriguing story and helps the reader to understand the Olympics from a Chinese perspective. (Choice Aug. 2008 )

If you're looking for something a bit more brainy, try Beijing's Games: What the Olympics Mean to China by Susan Brownell. Brownell's book tracks China's use of the Summer Olympics as a firework-studded coming out party on its quest to elbow into the high society of the world's superpowers. (Book Examiner )

Beijing's Games is a well-written and lively account of sports in contemporary Chinese public culture and politics. It offers a timely context for understanding the issues surrounding the Beijing Olympics. It is a must-read. (American Anthropologist )

Review

Offering insightful, informed analyses, Brownell provides an understanding of the importance to China of hosting the 2008 summer Olympic Games and of what the games mean for China's relationship with the outside world. Brownell highlights historical and cultural context....The author has personal experience in the Chinese sports world, and she brings a human side to understanding the importance and passion felt by the Chinese as hosts of the 2008 Olympic Games....this book tells an intriguing story and helps the reader to understand the Olympics from a Chinese perspective.

From our many conversations spanning more than a decade, I am aware of the exhaustive research and effort Susan Brownell has devoted to understanding China's sports and Olympic culture. One need not agree with all of her assessments and conclusions to appreciate the scholarship and perspective found here. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 230 pages
• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers (January 28, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0742556417
• ISBN-13: 978-0742556416
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #190,643 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #43 in Books > Sports & Outdoors > Miscellaneous > Olympic Games

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An American Anthropologist with keen attention to the Beijing Games, July 4, 2008

By 

Beijing Language Institute Alumni "Laura Memh... (Ridgefield, CT) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Beijing's Games: What the Olympics Mean to China (Latin American Silhouettes) (Paperback)

Susan Brownell has approached the topic of the Beijing Olympics with the seriousness which it deserves. As an anthropologist, historian, and athlete who has lived in and competed in China, she approaches the topic with professional dispatch, as well as personal knowledge. Susan has confronted the Bob Costa stereotypes about Chinese athletes over the past decade, and brings her arguments together in seven succinct chapters. Because of her professional relationship with International Olympic Committee member He Zhenliagn, Ms. Brownell's insights into motivation, goals, and obstacles are substantive. She accomplishes her goal of providing comprehensive analysis of the Olympic Movement in context of the imminent prospect of the world stage turning to the Beijing Olympics. I would urge all journalists who intend to write about their experiences in Beijing to prepare themselves by studying Susan's excellent text.