Forthcoming essay: "Crippled Warriors: Masculinities and Martial Arts Media in Asia"

I have an essay coming out in a fascinating collection to be published this May (2022) by Routledge. The book is edited by Youna Kim and is titled Media in Asia: Global, Digital, Gendered and Mobile.

My own contribution, "Crippled Warriors: Masculinities and Martial Arts Media in Asia," traces the recurrent image of the disabled, sick and mutilated martial artist's body across Asian martial arts media, but especially, of course, in Hong Kong cinema, as a means to explore changing experiences of masculinity in Asian culture. Amongst the films I discuss are the Zatoichi series, One-Armed Swordsman (1967), and the 2018 Indian action comedy Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota  / The Man Who Feels No Pain.

You can find out more about the book on Routledge's website here: https://www.routledge.com/Media-in-Asia-Global-Digital-Gendered-and-Mobile/Kim/p/book/9780367672850

And it's also available to pre-order on Amazon.

Still from The Man Who Feels No Pain, 2018.