In China, My Name Is [Hardcover]

Valerie Blanco (Author), Ellen Feberwee (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 16, 2009

Name giving is one of the pillars of Chinese culture. While tradition still plays a major role all over China, foreign influences linked to the nation’s economic boom have ushered in a great deal of change. What then can be found in the rising trend of Chinese nationals adopting English names? In China, My Name Is... asks more than 200 Chinese people – young and old, from the cities and the provinces – their reasons for taking on English names. A young woman calls herself "Apple" because when she drinks alcohol she turns red; because of his love of the movie, "Rainman’s" decision was an easy one. Clark, Merry, Shout Dogg, Ranger – their unique stories provide a perspective on China’s development from the Chinese point of view through simple but compelling photographs.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 176 pages
• Publisher: Mark Batty Publisher (May 16, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0979966671
• ISBN-13: 978-0979966675
• Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 1 x 7.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,262,215 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting, but not enough, August 18, 2009

By 

Robert Clark (Georgia) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: In China, My Name Is (Hardcover)

The concept of this book is great. Talking to Chinese people about their English names and why they chose them and what they chose them for is a great way to get an idea about a culture that is opening itself to the larger world around them. The short stories that are told are interesting and seeing a picture of the person that is relating their story is a great way to connect. The book itself has a nice clean design and the pictures are bright and enjoyable.

The problem I have with the book is that a lot of the stories are similar to each other and the book seems repetitive. It could have been edited down so that there wasn't as much of this and I think it would have helped the flow better. A lot of the stories were one sentence and not very interesting with the constant repetition.

As a window into a culture that is becoming more prevalent everyday, this is a great book. It only suffers from too long for what little bit it actually gives you.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Unusual Door into the Mysteries of the East, April 29, 2009

By 

Grady Harp (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: In China, My Name Is (Hardcover)

As China opens its once secure, secretive doors to Western influences, the changes that have occurred in this great land become curiouser and curiouser. On the one hand there seems to be a fierce independence of wanting to maintain a culture that has flourished for centuries untouched: on the other hand there is an apparent major force that wants to adopt Western ways and incorporate those 'foreign manners' with a touch of ingenuity.

Writers/photographers Valerie Blanco and Ellen Feberwee spent considerable time walking the streets of Shanghai observing and interviewing young people who have elected to have (or not to have!) Westernized names. This beautifully organized and colorful book goes page by page with photographs of people who have adopted Western names and offers the reasons given for such choices. The names range from routine to sublimely ridiculous and the personalities of the folks whose names are new come fully forward in the fine writing supplied.

The interviewees are arranged alphabetically according to their adopted names - from Aeron to Zat, including in the path of names such choices as B6, Boss, Jelly and Kely, Phoenix, Shining, Steven to Star and Jessie Potter. Other photographs of interviewed people who show disdain for the new trend to adopt a Western name are also featured, each giving their reasons for being against the idea. The explanation for usage of Western names varies from trendy to convenient to school assigned monikers.

This finely designed and richly graphic book takes on a journey to understand other peoples in a most entertaining and a very informative fashion. IN CHINA MY NAME IS is both a graphic book delight and a solid bit of sociology! Grady Harp, April 09

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Understanding, June 7, 2009

By 

Bonnie Neely - See all my reviews
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This review is from: In China, My Name Is (Hardcover)

In China, My Name Is... by Valerie Blanco & Ellen Feberwee is a fascinating exploration of the new Chinese culture by two Dutch women who live in Shanghai, a melting pot of cultures, and speak Chinese. They realized that many Chinese people are now choosing to rename themselves with English names with the emerging importance of China as and important world power. The photos, mostly of young people who can speak English, and interviews in the book give a great insight into this culture about which the West has known very little for decades. In Chinese tradition a name for a child is carefully chosen because its sound and meaning are associated with the child's destiny. Even the characters to write the name are very influential. In Chinese the words for destiny and name are both pronounced Ming. The authors wondered if the English names are chosen so carefully. The answers, revealed through the many interviews, give great understanding of the new Chinese culture, which is both globally embracing and also filled with tradition and cultural beliefs. This book is excellent for anyone traveling to China or wishing to understand this culture. Excellent!