The rapid development of intra-East Asian studies in the field of comparative literature has created fresh perspectives, on which this collection of “pan-Chinese” essays on gender issues sheds new light. The varied political circumstances and cultural contexts of the three Chinese communities of mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong offer an opportune, yet not surprising, point of comparison between different perspectives on gender studies. As Kwok-Kan Tam states in the Introduction, “gender is not simply an identity issue, but also a social issue of representation that has implications for contemporary Chinese politics” (p. x), therefore, the comparison of gender discourses is crucial because it provides an understanding of the social and political dynamics within these three places. With the aim of revealing the hidden assumptions about gender issues in Chinese communities, Kwok-kan Tam and Terry Yip claim that this collection of essays is “deconstructionist in nature” (p. vii).

The discussion starts with an introduction of the different perceptions of the notion of self in Western and Eastern philosophy which lays a foundation for understanding the problems of applying Western feminism in China. After decoding the enigma of the notion of self, the first section of this collection scrutinizes the formation of female subjectivity via psychoanalytical approaches in Chinese literary texts from the May Fourth period to the 1990s. This establishes a background to the development of Chinese feminism and how Chinese female writers have dealt with the issue of subjectivity during different periods in Chinese literary history.

The second section focuses on redefining femininity in different literary genres, and the impact of globalization and commercialization on Chinese female writers who deal with the representation of women. Through comparing literary works by mainland Chinese, Hong Kong and Taiwanese female writers, the portrayals of the formation of female subjectivity in these three places reveal the uniqueness of each city's political and social contexts. The emphasis on the connection between women and the city in this section is essential. This is because, on the one hand, the city provides women with opportunities to gain freedom through education and financial independence, and on the other hand, it creates for women the proclivity to become materialistic, to the extreme of commodifying themselves (p. 147). This helps to provide an updated view on contemporary Chinese female subjectivity under the influence of globalization, especially in mainland China. Whilst this discussion sufficiently considers literature of the pre-technology age, it neglects to account for the shift of media to the internet. The analysis would benefit from accounts from internet writers or Chinese female writers who maintain weblogs. Seeing that the internet has become a prominent platform, it is important to investigate the formation of female subjectivity in cyberspace.

Usually, more attention is paid to female writers when studying feminist discourses. However, in this collection of essays the works of male writers have also been addressed, which help to provide a more balanced view on discussions of gender issues. In “Feminist critique: the patriarchal discourse of Chinese male writers,” Sheng Ying employs a feminist perspective to read Chinese male writers' works. This leads her to understand that they put women under the “gazed” position only when they are attempting to deconstruct old myths that were imposed on Chinese women. In the last two chapters, Kwok-kan Tam and Kwai-Cheung Lo study Dung Kai Cheung's novel Dual Body and question the demarcation between masculinity and femininity that is imposed by societal norms. Both authors point out that Dung uses the main character in Dual Body, Lin Shanyuan, not only to challenge gender boundaries but also to explore the identity crisis that Hong Kong people are experiencing as a result of their colonial past. This reveals the idiosyncratic nature of gender formations in Hong Kong.

Apart from literary texts, this collection includes the study of feminine discourse in documentary films. In “The subaltern women's voice and (film-) making of modern Taiwan,” Kuei-Fen Chiu provides a different insight into the representation of subaltern Taiwanese women through a cinematic and anthropological approach. This not only shows the importance of oral histories in contributing to the creation of female history in Taiwan, but also helps women, in this case Taiwanese women, to form their own representation through the narration of their lives on screen.

Through different genres and critical approaches, this book provides a rather holistic view on gender issues in Mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong, and also portrays the different representation of gender arising from dissimilar political circumstances. All in all, this collection achieves the main aim of deconstructing the myth of gender and bestows a new picture of the development of gender studies in different Chinese communities.