Narratives of agency
Subtitle: self-making in China, India, and Japan
By: Wimal Dissanayake, editor.
Contributors: Dissanayake, Wimal.
Publisher: University of Minnesota Press; Univ Of Minnesota Press
Published: 1996
Place of publication: Minneapolis
Language: eng
Number of pages: 244
Subjects: Self.; Individuality.; Subjectivity.; China -- Civilization.; India -- Civilization.; Japan -- Civilization.
Description: This multidisciplinary collection underlines the importance of understanding the operations of human agency - defined here as the ability to exert power, specifically in resistance to ideological pressure. In particular, the contributors emphasize the historical and cultural conditions that facilitate the production of agency in an effort to gain a deeper understanding of the cultures of China, India, and Japan.

The contributors argue that traditional Western approaches to the study of these cultures have unduly focused on the pervasive influence of family and clan (China), caste and fatalism (India), and groupism (Japan), reminding us that members of a community have to make personal choices, struggle and interact with others, and confront new challenges, all of which involve intentionality and human agency.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.