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Avron Boretz's Gods, Ghosts, and Gangsters breaks new ground in the study of Chinese religious culture by providing an intellectually and emotionally compelling account of how largely marginalized males rely on ritual violence and violent rituals as means of self-production featuring narratives of personal identity. Based on a sophisticated conceptual framework that draws on the anthropology of masculinity as well as classic studies by Stephan Feuchtwang, P. Steven Sangren, Meir Shahar and Angela Zito, Boretz surpasses previous research on Chinese men, which was mainly characterized by an emphasis on their roles in fulfilling village and family norms. In contrast, this study focuses on young working-class men who chafe under the "hierarchical structuring of [male] potency and charismaâ[euro] (p. 13) and often rebel against its strictures by operating on the transient and dangerous fringes of Chinese society (jianghu, literally "[the world of] rivers and lakesâ[euro]). Such tensions also affect the relationship between sons who are subordinated to their fathers, and can only achieve autonomy by the unfilial act of rebelling or biding their time. They further manifest themselves in the aesthetics of martial ritual performances, erupting to the surface in violent fits that in some ways resemble childhood tantrums or the antics of rebellious deities like Sun Wukong and Li Nezha.
Apart from the Introduction and Conclusion, Gods, Ghosts, and Gangsters is divided into five main chapters. Chapter two ("Violence, honor, and manhoodâ[euro]) further develops the themes presented above, being noteworthy for its apt distinction between manhood (a status that must be attained) and masculinity (an amalgam of attitudes, attributes and behaviours), with Boretz arguing that manhood involves control or...