AustLit

'This article explores misogyny in the novel by Chinese Australian author Ouyang Yu, The Eastern Slope Chronicle. It argues that misogyny is not merely an individual, but also a collective practice. While scholars have discussed the loss of masculinity in the protagonist, this article examines the misogynistic tradition in Chinese culture: men’s authority and expectations of women’s subordination in the family, which partly accounts for the misogyny of the protagonist Dao and other male characters in the text. It reads the novel as an elegy, mourning the loss of male dominance and male chauvinism in the Chinese diaspora in Australia in postcolonial times. The novel’s play with voices and the implied author’s perspective combine with the characters’ frustration and their many forms of misogynistic practice to produce an elegiac tone, acknowledging change while documenting the characters’ lack of agency and their inability to change in the present day environment.' (Publication abstract)