踏跡尋中 : 四十年華南田野之旅

Abstract

Tracing China explores nearly half a century of rural revolution and community reconstruction in South China, revealing China’s extensive influence and Hong Kong’s cross-border dynamics. Helen F. Siu, an anthropologist, examines the daily lives of ordinary people beyond cultural and physical landscapes, amidst political upheavals and dramatic changes as China modernizes. She highlights the concept of complicity, showing how villagers, urbanites, officials, entrepreneurs, and intellectuals carry historical burdens while questioning if they also become victims in the process.

The book integrates core themes of historical anthropology including culture, history, power, place-making, and identity formation, using critical social theory, fieldwork, and archival texts. Siu emphasizes processes and contingencies, arguing that culture and society are constructed through human actions, imbued with subtle meanings, moral imaginations, and competing interests. She challenges the linear view of social and political change, uncovering the layered textures of the past within current realities.