Books published by University of California Press

A translation and study of the most comprehensive work on dream culture in traditional China - "Lofty Principles of Dream Interpretation". It is accompanied by an introduction that surveys the evolution of Chinese dream culture and the role of Chen Shiyuan and his encyclopedia.

"This pathbreaking book offers a vital analysis of the rising-but-unrecognized category of single women in marriage-minded societies such as India. Through beautifully rendered, diverse stories of never-married women, Being Single in India challenges conventional wisdom and is essential reading for anthropologists, sociologists, and those interested in gender in the Global South."--Marcia C. Inhorn, William K. Lanman, Jr. Professor of Anthropology and International Affairs, Yale University "This lively ethnographic account of the experiences of never-married women makes several key contributions to feminist anthropological appraisals of marriage as an institution. Drawing on in-depth interviews and extensive exercises in participant observation, Sarah Lamb renders a compelling, detailed, and sensitive portrait of compulsory heterosexuality and patriliny as seen from the margins."--Lucinda Ramberg, Associate Professor of Anthropology and Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, Cornell University "For fans of Lamb's evocative narratives on Bengali widows, her new book provides another rich look at the negative space of marriage: the rare demographic of single women in Bengal across class and caste. In the hands of an empathetic ethnographer, we see how they provide care and are cared for (or not), we see their routines and sacrifices and longings but also their laughter and aspirations and resilience, and we see the heartfelt new communities they form outside of biological kin. Being outside of marriage is not devastating or ruinous, it turns out, but reveals the vulnerabilities of shelter and support and the privileges of sexuality, gender, and class."--Srimati Basu, author of The Trouble with Marriage: Feminists Confront Law and Violence in India "This compelling ethnography offers an extraordinarily fruitful perspective on gender, family, kinship, patriliny, patriarchy, and class in India's dominant cultures. With engaging writing and captivating narratives, Lamb uncovers never-married women's own critiques of and reflections on dominant norms. Her focus is, essentially, entirely new in South Asian studies. It offers fresh insights into the realities of family lives, complicating the notion of the ideal Indian family, and her interlocutors' accounts reveal new insights about women and kinship."--Sara Dickey, author of Living Class in Urban India

"This book is a powerful synthesis of African theorization and rigorous fieldwork that presents an engaging and convincing read of a location. Kwame Edwin Otu's work is not simply meaningful for Jamestown, for Accra, Ghana, or West Africa; it has real import elsewhere while remaining committed to its locality and subjects, a rare feat."--T. J. Tallie, author of Queering Colonial Natal: Indigeneity and the Violence of Belonging in Southern Africa "A unique project based on groundbreaking research. There is no other work that gives such elegant insight into the multifarious desires of queer life--in an African city or anywhere. Otu convincingly shows how simplistic identity categories are confounded by the fluidities and illegibilities of lived queer experience."--Jesse Weaver Shipley, Professor of African and African American Studies and Oratory, Dartmouth College

"This exhibition catalog accompanies a sweeping retrospective of contemporary artist and painter Beverly McIver. Curated by Kim Boganey, this exhibition presents a survey of works that represent the diversity of McIver's thematic approach to painting over her career. From early self-portraits in clown makeup to more recent works featuring her father, dolls, and figures in blackface, Full Circle illuminates the arc of Beverly McIver's artistic career while also touching on her personal journey. McIver's self-portraits explore expressions of individuality, stereotypes, and ways of masking identity; portraits of family provide glimpses into intimate moments, in good times as well as in illness and death. The show includes McIver's portraits of other artists and notable figures, recent work resulting from a year in Rome with American Academy's Rome Prize, and new work in which McIver explores the juxtaposition of color, patterns, and the human figure. Full Circle also features works that reflect on McIver's collaborations with other artists, as well as her impact on the next generation of artists. This complementary exhibition, In Good Company, includes artists who have mentored McIver, such as Faith Ringgold and Richard Mayhew, as well as those who have studied under her. This catalog includes a conversation with Beverly McIver by exhibition curator Kim Boganey, as well as two essays: one by leading Black feminist writer Michele Wallace, daughter of Beverly's graduate school mentor Faith Ringgold; and another by distinguished scholar of African American art history Richard Powell"--