These acts agency is constructed as originating from and oriented back toward the other: I harm myself bodily because your excellence(of feeling, virtue, behaviour, speech, etc), acting involuntarily on my moral feelings, compels me to drink. My acts derive from you; your acts ought to derive from me. These actors accrue social power to their persons-but not as individuals The dispositional skills trained in the ritual complex--pose, prosody, word choice, topic, affective mood--occupy a central place in public culture at large, even beyond the broad scope of feasting itself. Therefore, I consider feastings speech habitus a well-defined register, a ' linguistic repertoire.. associated with particular social prac tices and with persons who engage in such practices,, which socialises urbanites into the conduct of power relationships(Agha 2006: 24). I would add that the feast register is also associated with a complex, historically rooted form of agency. Using the agency concept, I analyse the competitive dynamic of feasting(with dri ver Yang, above, as an example)as simultaneously self-aggrandising and de-individu ating. In other words, successful feasters raise their profiles, amass social capital, and bend others to their will, but only by radically cross-circuiting' subjective agency: I am only doing this because you did that-I have subjected myself to your will-and you ought to have the courage to follow my selfless example. Driver Yang refusing to eat when he noticed me not eating-and staging(ethical) self-denial to coerce me to eat-is a small example of this ritually constructed, intersubjective agency From the perspective of society more broadly, feasting is an institution that medi- ates power, with initiative always shifting competitively from person to person, but culturally each initiative is circuited through others, and materially each person is sus- ceptible to others' demands. With the ritual complex in mind, the relevant question becomes not"'Is urban Chinese society individualising?but ' What are the contours of individualisation where urban power structures are still dominated by relational self- hood and intersubjective agend RE-EMBEDDING IN LUZHOU'S POLITICAL ECONOMY Yan argues that with the removal of the socialist safety net, and the lack of state struc tures guaranteeing livelihoods or rights, socially disembedded individuals are quickly forced tore-embed', falling back on the family and personal network or guanxi, the Indiv g nt where disembedment begins'Yan 2009: 288). For many Luzhou residents, individual agency is an aspiration impinged by a stark reality: for those whose incomes derive directly or indirectly from the state and who hope for advancement, socialis tion into ritual speech habitus is mandatory. For the majority unable to live off the state, business earnings are tied directly to one's ability to cultivate guanxi relation ships in which the line between instrumental and affective components is deliberately blurred. Therefore, would-be individuals of either sector find themselves consigned (to varying degrees) to the discipline of feasting, whose normative ethic forcibly locates agency outside the self, and whose economic function is to facilitate production. e 2014 Australian Anthropological Society
These acts’ agency is constructed as originating from and oriented back toward the other: I harm myself bodily because your excellence (of feeling, virtue, behaviour, speech, etc), acting involuntarily on my moral feelings, compels me to drink. My acts derive from you; your acts ought to derive from me. These actors accrue social power to their persons—but not as ‘individuals’. The dispositional skills trained in the ritual complex—pose, prosody, word choice, topic, affective mood—occupy a central place in public culture at large, even beyond the broad scope of feasting itself. Therefore, I consider feasting’s speech habitus a well-defined register, a ‘linguistic repertoire … associated with particular social practices and with persons who engage in such practices’, which socialises urbanites into the conduct of power relationships (Agha 2006: 24). I would add that the feast register is also associated with a complex, historically rooted form of agency. Using the agency concept, I analyse the competitive dynamic of feasting (with driver Yang, above, as an example) as simultaneously self-aggrandising and de-individuating. In other words, successful feasters raise their profiles, amass social capital, and bend others to their will, but only by radically ‘cross-circuiting’ subjective agency: I am only doing this because you did that—I have subjected myself to your will—and you ought to have the courage to follow my selfless example. Driver Yang refusing to eat when he noticed me not eating—and staging (ethical) self-denial to coerce me to eat—is a small example of this ritually constructed, intersubjective agency. From the perspective of society more broadly, feasting is an institution that mediates power, with initiative always shifting competitively from person to person, but culturally each initiative is circuited through others, and materially each person is susceptible to others’ demands. With the ritual complex in mind, the relevant question becomes not ‘Is urban Chinese society individualising?’ but ‘What are the contours of individualisation where urban power structures are still dominated by relational selfhood and intersubjective agency?’ RE-EMBEDDING IN LUZHOU’S POLITICAL ECONOMY Yan argues that with the removal of the socialist safety net, and the lack of state structures guaranteeing livelihoods or rights, socially disembedded individuals are quickly forced to ‘re-embed’, falling back on ‘the family and personal network or guanxi, the same point where disembedment begins’ (Yan 2009: 288). For many Luzhou residents, individual agency is an aspiration impinged by a stark reality: for those whose incomes derive directly or indirectly from the state and who hope for advancement, socialisation into ritual speech habitus is mandatory. For the majority unable to live off the state, business earnings are tied directly to one’s ability to cultivate guanxi relationships in which the line between instrumental and affective components is deliberately blurred. Therefore, would-be individuals of either sector find themselves consigned (to varying degrees) to the discipline of feasting, whose normative ethic forcibly locates agency outside the self, and whose economic function is to facilitate production. 362 © 2014 Australian Anthropological Society B. D. Harmon and B. Harmon
Xiao Yu was a disabled woman in her mid-thirties who owned and operated mall bar. She showed interest in individual identity creation(in poetry But with credit restricted to large state enterprises, she was unable to expand the business enough to hire a manager. She had a ready smile and a quick wit, but her skill in social interaction had become a burden. Her profit margins were so thin she admitted she could not take off even one night a week. During the daytime she hosted a telephone chat room. She did so, she said with a grin,to try to get more customers for the bar. Chronically fatigued, she dreamed of going to Tibet and spending a long time there. She focused on Tibet specifically because she believed Tibetans to be purer than Luzhou people. Called 'Free Space, her bars interior was decorated with rough-hewn wood planks and segmented into semi-private booths She was not free, no matter how painfully aware she was of her own inclinations and desires. On one hand, the dual economy ensured that she could not access credit to grow her business; unlikely to marry, she relied on her family for support. On the other hand, part of the 'escape she offered customers was personal recognition and cheer. Her charm functioned productively, infusing her economically useful relation ships- -with the personalistic, affective dynamic exemplified in ritual feasting she also constructed the bars space using ritual mechanisms, particularly greetings Pretty woman! she would call out to a middle-aged customer. Where are all your girlfriends today? she would ask a young man. These skills of flattery, joking, and calibration of utterances emotional tone to the nature of the relationship, are explicitly played upon in feasting. The main goal of feasting, as Ms Liu, a skilled feaster and accountant for a state company divulged, is to make the other party admire(xinshang)one. Specifically, the aim is ethical: to appear not to care about calculating one's own wins and losses under the influence of the other, described in the dialect term genzhi. Xiao Yu's genzhi persona partly structured Free Space with an intersubjective agency. She played the role of host to her customer guests, working to make them feel welcome, paying close attention to their needs, call ing an assistant to bring fresh tea or peanuts, or introducing one customer to another. The intersubjective agency enacted by her behaviour constructed her as either virtuously submitting to the wills of others(politeness)or as feelingly impelled to do so(friendship). In Ortner's terms, engagement in the 'power agency of ritual relationality squeezed out any room for self-generated'projects'. Hence remote Tibet, far from the ethical performances required for her business, beckoned as a space of individual existence Jasmine, an English teacher at a public high school and a decade older than Xiao Yu, had been socialised as a schoolgirl to revolutionary devotion to others; the old propaganda songs still gave her nostalgic pleasure, even as she acknowledged their anachronistic messages. Unlike Xiao Yu, whose force over guests/ customers grew out of a laborious performance of charming service, Jasmine's place in the di tributory educational bureaucracy automatically indebted parents and students to her, making her a magnet for ' return'feast invitations. While she longed for relief from @2014 Australian Anthropological Socety
Xiao Yu was a disabled woman in her mid-thirties who owned and operated a small bar. She showed interest in individual identity creation (in poetry and travel). But with credit restricted to large state enterprises, she was unable to expand the business enough to hire a manager. She had a ready smile and a quick wit, but her skill in social interaction had become a burden. Her profit margins were so thin she admitted she could not take off even one night a week. During the daytime she hosted a telephone chat room. She did so, she said with a grin, ‘to try to get more customers for the bar’. Chronically fatigued, she dreamed of going to Tibet and spending a long time there. She focused on Tibet specifically because she believed Tibetans to be purer than Luzhou people. Called ‘Free Space’, her bar’s interior was decorated with rough-hewn wood planks and segmented into semi-private booths. She was not free, no matter how painfully aware she was of her own inclinations and desires. On one hand, the dual economy ensured that she could not access credit to grow her business; unlikely to marry, she relied on her family for support. On the other hand, part of the ‘escape’ she offered customers was personal recognition and cheer. Her charm functioned productively, infusing her economically useful relationships—guanxi—with the personalistic, affective dynamic exemplified in ritual feasting. She also constructed the bar’s space using ritual mechanisms, particularly greetings. ‘Pretty woman!’ she would call out to a middle-aged customer. ‘Where are all your girlfriends today?’ she would ask a young man. These skills of flattery, joking, and calibration of utterances’ emotional tone to the nature of the relationship, are explicitly played upon in feasting. The main goal of feasting, as Ms Liu, a skilled feaster and accountant for a state company divulged, is to make the other party admire (xinshang) one. Specifically, the aim is ethical: to appear not to care about calculating one’s own wins and losses under the influence of the other, described in the dialect term genzhi. Xiao Yu’s genzhi persona partly structured Free Space with an intersubjective agency. She played the role of host to her customerguests, working to make them feel welcome, paying close attention to their needs, calling an assistant to bring fresh tea or peanuts, or introducing one customer to another.6 The intersubjective agency enacted by her behaviour constructed her as either virtuously submitting to the wills of others (politeness) or as feelingly impelled to do so (friendship). In Ortner’s terms, engagement in the ‘power’ agency of ritual relationality squeezed out any room for self-generated ‘projects’. Hence remote Tibet, far from the ethical performances required for her business, beckoned as a space of individual existence. Jasmine, an English teacher at a public high school and a decade older than Xiao Yu, had been socialised as a schoolgirl to revolutionary devotion to others; the old propaganda songs still gave her nostalgic pleasure, even as she acknowledged their anachronistic messages. Unlike Xiao Yu, whose ritual force over guests/customers grew out of a laborious performance of charming service, Jasmine’s place in the distributory educational bureaucracy automatically indebted parents and students to her, making her a magnet for ‘return’ feast invitations. While she longed for relief from © 2014 Australian Anthropological Society 363 Feasting and individuation in China