Theatre and Performance Studies Commons^™

On The Relationship Between The Morality Advocating Campaign In The Qing Dynasty And Popular Novels, Caixun Chen

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

Through the nationwide Morality Advocating Campaign, the Qing government brought novels into cultural management, which had a profound influence on the creation and dissemination of the novel. In such a political and cultural ecology, censership and banning of novels, which had formed an important part of the social Morality Advocating Campaign, became a top- down, national cultural conscious action in Qing Dynasty. On the one hand, in order to enhance the effect of advocating morality, some“moralist scholars”intentionally fictionized the moral-instruction books. On the other hand, some novelists consciously utilized popular novels to implement persuasion in order to cooperate with the …

A Comparison Of The Two Historical Narrative Approaches To Qi Baishi's “Late Life Transformation”, Zhongyi Xia

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

The two historical narrative approaches to Qi Baishi's “late-life transformation” could be referred to as “the Sovietperspective” and “the non-Soviet perspective”. The former is characterized by “framing history with theory” and “substitutinghistory with theory”, while the latter “confirming theory with historical facts” and “constructing theory with historical facts”. Following the thread “constructing theory with historical facts”, one must valorize The Autobiography of Qi Baishi, because itssimple summary of “late-life transformation” is reliable as “history”, and as theory it is also superbly profound, which can shedlight on the absurdity of the Soviet perspective “framing history with theory”. Likewise, by following the …

Cento: The Categorizing Feature And Fictional Function Of Verse In The Vernacular Stories Of The Song And Yuan Dynasties, Chuyan Ye

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

In the vernacular stories of the Song and Yuan dynasties, centos of poems or ci-poems not only appear in the beginning of the story as a lead-in, but also widely exist in the rhymed texts of other parts. Judging by its content and form, the performance of centos is closely related to the art form of hesheng (a form of rhyme created upon sighting anything) in the Song and Yuan Dynasties. According to the audience's familiarity with the rhymed text, and the story-teller＇s categorization of knowledge and utilization of techniques, the centos in the story-telling scripts can be classified into …

The Aesthetics Of Witheredness And Artistic Creations In The Song Dynasty, Yun Dong

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

In the Song dynasty witheredness (ku) came to be the representation of a particular type of beauty, with the withered objects regarded as the object of aesthetic interest. The taste for witheredness manifests in various forms such as cold and thin, sparse and plain, old and strange, epitomizing the ancient-emulating aesthetics of the Song dynasty. Besides literary texts highlighting the withered objects, literati paintings constitute a unique world characterized by witheredness popularized with examples of withered objects such as dead trees, aged plum trees, and thin bamboos. The aesthetics for the withered reflects the taste and spiritual pursuit of the …

Yang Weizhen And The Changes Of Poetics In Late Yuan Dynasty, Fang Ding

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

The history of poetry in Yuan dynasty is usually divided into three periods. In the early Yuan period, the poetic style of late Tang dynasty and late Song dynasty was prevalence. In the middle-Yuan period, the high Tang style was emulated, as was represented by the so-called the Four Great Yuan Poets who were officials and served in the court. Yang Weizhen, an influential poet in late Yuan dynasty for his poetics, however, advocated the Six-Dynasty poetry as well as the works of Li Po, Li Ho, Tao Yuanming, Wei Yingwu, Liu Zongyuan, Du fu, Li Shangyin, etc. Yang Weizhen …

Anthologies Of Ancient Chinese Fiction Compiled By Western Sinologists And The Construction Of The Literary Style Of Fiction, Lijuan Song

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

Anthologies of ancient Chinese fiction compiled by Western Sinologists are an important channel for their textualization in the West. These fictive works exist mainly in three forms: selected translations of ancient Chinese fiction, selected works of Chinese literature, and histories of Chinese literature. Being translations, samples and selections at the same time, these texts also feature functions of in-betweenness, exhibition and criticism. Through translation, exhibition and criticism, those anthologies have not only textualized ancient Chinese fiction in the West, but also investigate Chinese fiction from Western perspective, which, regarding issues of translation, origin, and types of Chinese fiction, facilitated the …

An Analysis Of Chinese Fiction's Impact On The Joseon Conception Of Fiction, Weiguo Zhao

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

Based on the literature of Goryeo and Joseon fiction, this article aims to study ancient Korean fictive works written in Chinese, and explores the conception of early Goryeo and Joseon fiction from the lens of its reception of Chinese understanding of fiction. With the wide spread of fictive works such as Taiping Guangji and Jiandeng Xinhua on the Korean Peninsula, Goryeo and Joseon scholars began to understand and consciously create fiction. Then, Seo Geojung and Yi Seungso, who inherited the Confucian conception of fiction, put forward the“jesting theory”and“completing history theory”. These ideas not only laid the foundation for the development …

Narratives Of Journey To The West In Overseas Sinology, Hongbo Zhu, Xinxin Wang

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

Since the mid-20th century, in Japan, as well as some European and American countries, studies of Journey to the West have started to emerge, which, with rich content and fruitful achievements, are in themselves narratives of overseas Sinology on this novel. Besides being an important part of overseas Sinology, they are also an extension to the modern study of Journey to the West in China, which testifies to the significance of cultural exchange in the process of “Chinese culture going West”. At the same time, through examining and interpreting Journey to the West from the perspective of global and modern …

On Allegory, Metaphor, And Allegorical Interpretation, Longxi Zhang

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

In the 4th and 5th centuries B.C., the rise of philosophy challenged the authority of Homer and many philosophers, notably Plato, dismissed Homer and poetry in the quarrel between poetry and philosophy. Some other philosophers, however, particularly the Stoics, came to the defence of Homer by proposing the idea of allegory and arguing that the Homeric epics contained a spiritual meaning beyond the literal sense of the text. Similarly, the Song of Songs in the Bible was also questioned by both Jewish rabbis and Christian interpreters because of its sensual language and eroticism. It was again allegorical interpretation that came …

Nationalist Allegories In The Post-Human Era, Siqi Zhang

CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture

As China’s expansion of influence now takes up the spotlight of the world stage, Chinese science fiction, a relatively little known genre, reaches a global audience. In 2015, Liu Cixin received the Hugo Award for Best Novel for his trilogy The Three-Body Problem, as the first Asian science fiction writer to receive the Hugo Award. A year later, Hao Jingfang’s Folding Beijing was awarded the 2016 Hugo Award for Best Novelette. The recent world-wide recognition of Chinese science fiction begins with English translation, U.S. publication and promotion. The New York Times cited The Three-Body Problem as having helped popularize Chinese …

From Franz Kafka To Franz Kafka Award Winner, Yan Lianke: Biopolitics And The Human Dilemma Of Shenshizhuyi In Liven And Dream Of Ding Village, Melinda Pirazzoli

CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture

To date, many studies have exhaustively explained how and why Yan Lianke deals with both the intimate relationship between disease and biopolitics and the relationship between utopia and dystopia. These are certainly the most important themes in Liven (2004) and Dream of Ding Village (2006). However, biopolitical discourses cannot fully account for the complexity, depth and humanity of these novels, which in addition to exploring the complex and protean meaning of life also represent shenshizhuyi, an expression coined by Yan Lianke to describe his human dilemma in representing the complex relationship between shen 神 (soul, spirit, mind and myths) …

Hanay Geiogamah’S Body Indian And Foghorn As “Plays With A Purpose”, Danica Čerče

CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture

In her article, “Hanay Geiogamah’s Body Indian and Foghorn as ‘Plays with a Purpose,’” written against the backdrop of critical whiteness studies, Danica Čerče discusses how Geiogamah’s theatrical rhetoric intervenes in the assumptions about whiteness as a static, privilege-granting category and system of dominance. By focusing on various techniques and strategies mobilized to define and affirm Native Americans’ authentic rather than imposed identities, the article shows that humor is one of the prime textual devices in Geiogamah’s plays to renegotiate what Walter Mignolo calls “the racist structure of power.”

The Female Fantastic Vs. The Feminist Fantastic: Gender And The Transgression Of The Real, David Roas

CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture

Since Ann Richter coined the term “fantastique féminin” in 1977, many works in different languages have postulated a “female” way of writing fantastic texts, depending on the selection of themes, language, characters, supernatural elements, and the portrayal of the uncanny and the monstrous. This claim on the existence of a "female fantastic" reflects central issues in Feminist Literary Theory: on the one hand, the will to identify an aesthetic mode opposed to the dominant patriarchal discourse (female writing, the use of specific themes, etc.); on the other hand, the argument that there are marginal genres, forms and styles voluntarily removed …

Introduction: New Perspectives On The Female Fantastic, David Roas, Patricia Garcia

CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture

No abstract provided.

Dancing Through Time: A Biographical Look On The Evolution Of Tap Dance, Jaimie Cranford

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

A uniquely American art form, tap dance has often been misrepresented and under-appreciated when positioned alongside other dance forms. This is largely due to the form’s racialized history, which builds upon contributions from African-American culture. Unlike other dance forms, which stem from white European traditions, tap dance evolved out of a necessity for cultural preservation as enslaved Africans adapted to life in America. As tap dance evolved, its association with slave culture led to it not being taken seriously; if anything, tap dancers were viewed simply as “entertainers” – certainly not as artists. Using a biographical lens, this work looks …

Art After Dark: Economies Of Performance, New York City 1978–1988, Meredith Mowder

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Art After Dark: Economies of Performance, New York City 1978-1988 examines the interwoven social and economic histories of New York City and performance in the late 1970s and 1980s. The dissertation traces the growth and visibility of performance art, moving from the recession of the 1970s and early years of public funding for the arts, to the downtown nightclub scene of the 1980s, the history of the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Next Wave Festival, and artistic experiments with television in the 1980s.Looking closely at the economic conditions under which performance occurred during the late 1970s and early 1980s, this dissertation …

Us, Abundantly: From Africa To The Americas, Karisma Jay

Theses and Dissertations

"Us, AbunDantly," a Live theatrical dance performance and film, delves into the African Diaspora and its influences. An artistic and academic project built upon the amplification of Black excellence and Black pride, this paper contextualizes a work within the oral histories and contemporary dance studies of a powerfully ancestral community.

A Fat Imposter: The Embodied Intersection Between Race, Body Type And Fatness In Margaret Cho’S Comedy, Julia Cox

Theses and Dissertations--Linguistics

Margaret Cho is a comedic goddess who, in her mockery, serves flaming hot social commentary about race, body image, and fatness. Within this thesis, I used critical discourse analysis to understand how Margaret Cho embodies Asianness, whiteness, and the body types and images prescribed respectively. While working on data analysis, I came across a common media trope of fat women: the use of indexically Southern (United States), Appalachian, and Working class indexicals in speech and lexical items. I connected the ideologies surrounding Southern and Appalachian language to the inequalities that fat women face. This voicing had not previously been written …

Sonic Femininity: The Ronettes' Transgressive Gender Performance, Hilarie Ashton

Publications and Research

Iconic sixties girl group the Ronettes are frequently (and justly) celebrated for anchoring the Wall of Sound and inspiring the Beatles, but in their own right, they transgressed social, gendered expectations in revolutionary ways. Framed by a notion I call the sonic feminine, a recuperative theoretical space for the revolutionarily transgressive work of female and femme artists, I argue that the Ronettes, and lead singer Ronnie Spector in particular, enacted a kind of cultural rebellion: they crafted their images to made-up heights that tease the boundaries of drag across the spaces of the stage, the recording studio, the bathroom, and …

An Arrow Against Profane And Promiscuous Dancing. Drawn Out Of The Quiver Of The Scriptures. [1686], Increase Mather, Paul Royster , Ed.

Zea E-Books Collection

"The unchast Touches and Gesticulations used by Dancers, have a palpable tendency to that which is evil."

When a dancing master arrived in Boston in 1685 and offered lessons and classes for both sexes during times normally reserved for church meetings, the Puritan ministers went to court to suppress the practice. Increase Mather (1639-1723) took the leading part, writing and publishing this tract, which compiles arguments and precedents for the prohibition of “Gynecandrical Dancing, [i.e.] Mixt or Promiscuous Dancing, viz. of Men and Women … together.” These justifications were certainly shared with the court, which found the dancing …

“Beychella:” Beyoncé’S Homecoming To A Futuristic Queer Utopian, Jolie V. Brownell

sprinkle: an undergraduate journal of feminist and queer studies

Beyoncé’s 2018 Coachella performance and 2019 Homecoming film set the stage for a radical Black queer reimagining. Yet, how can Beyoncé—who is straight—be located within a queer critique? In this paper, I argue that through a radical and political expansion of queer, the creative deployment of dis/identification, and the unapologetic expression of the erotic, Beyoncé performs an embodiment of queer of color critique. These creative gestures within “Beychella” invite viewers into a queer futuristic utopian and provide new creative modes to politically inhabit, resist, and reimagine interlocking systems of oppression.

Keywords: Beyoncé, queer, dis/identification, erotic, QoCC, …

The Living Theatre Of Horror: Examining How Centuries Of Western Theatrical Practice And Theory Inform The Modern-Day Haunted House, Scott Dittman

Theses and Dissertations

This work will discuss the growing modern phenomenon of theme park and regional haunt events in the United States. In it, we will explore the history of how horror has been presented on stage, the themes within horror that creators grapple with, and how by using traditional theatrical elements creators of modern haunt events are able to make the audience a part of the story, transforming them from passive observers of the scenarios presented to complicit participants. How does the history of horror theatre inform the production of modern haunt events (and how has a global pandemic affected them), what …

"With The Commodity In The Hand": A Practical Investigation Of The Intersection Of Material Culture With Performance Theory, Katharine M. Given

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the intersection of performance theory and material culture through the practices of garment reconstruction. In chapter 1, I examine key theorists in the fields of material culture and performance studies and articulate the connections between the two fields. In chapter 2, Using practice as research, I recount the experience of building reproduction garments from the eighteenth century using historically appropriate tools and methods, as well as the experience of wearing those garments. Finally, in Chapter 3, I walk through a possible historical examination of my encounter with these reconstructed garments, and consider the way in which feminine …

Distribution, Bars, And Arcade Stars: Joe Anthony’S Entrepreneurial Expansion In Houston’S Gay Media Industries, Finley Freibert

Faculty and Staff Scholarship

This article develops the concept of "gay useful media" to explore a case study of gay entrepreneurship in Houston, Texas, of the 1970s. A father and son developed a gay media empire in the city, which spanned bars, bookstores, distribution, and vending. One of the pair's key establishments was Houston's legendary gay bar Mary's at 1022 Westheimer (also known as Mary's Lounge, Mary's, Naturally, and Mary's…Naturally).

Print Culture, Digital Culture, Poetics And Hermeneutics: Discussion With J. Hillis Miller, Liyuan Zhu

CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture

This paper is a response to Hillis Miller’s query on the author’s essay “Hillis Miller on the End of Literature.” The author basically agrees with Miller’s view on the shift from print culture to digital culture, explaining the special cultural context under which Chinese scholars emphasize the visual turn. Based on the rapid development of Chinese online literature, the author points out that print culture does not rival but coexists with digital culture. On the other hand, drawing on Aristotle’s Poetics and insights of several leading figures of contemporary hermeneutics, the author contends that Miller’s dichotomy of poetics (form) and …

China Question Of Us-American Imagism, Qingben Li

CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture

This paper investigates first the influences of ancient Chinese culture on Ezra Pound, and then Pound’s influence on the New Culture Movement of modern China (1917). It is a kind of circular journey of literary texts and theories from ancient China to the West and then back to China. This journey, or “circle model,” involves textual appropriation, variation, transformation and misunderstanding in every stage.

Western Theory And Historical Studies Of Chinese Literary Criticism, Zhirong Zhu

CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture

This paper examines the formation of modern historical studies of classical Chinese literary criticism in terms of its interaction with and transformation of western theory. The discipline emerged during the eastward movement of Western ideas in the early twentieth century, promoting the “scientific study” of classical Chinese learning, and instituting curriculum and textbooks in Chinese universities. The reception of Western concepts of “literature” and “literary criticism” in the early twentieth century, largely through Japan, laid the very foundation of historical studies of classical Chinese literary criticism as an independent subject of study. This paper argues that when adopting Western methods …

The Chuanyue (Traversing) Of Western Cultural Industry Theories In China, Hui Li, Naihai Zhai

CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture

This paper discusses the reception and transformation of western theories of Culture Industry in China during the Reform Era (1978-present). It proposes the term 穿越 (chuanyue, traverse), rather than communication or traveling theory, in order to probe into the complexity of the interaction, modification and transformation of western theories of Culture Industry and creative industries in China. The paper focuses on 1) issues of time lag or disjunction, in that it took more than half a century for the critique of Culture Industry to enter China; 2) divergent interpretations of Culture Industry with a strong critical edge of …

Cinematic Representation Of Ethnic Minorities In Prc And Postcolonialism, Xinyu Lu

CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture

This paper explores the notions of “Sinophone” and “Chinese-language cinema” under the rubrics of postcolonialism in Chinese film studies both in China and elsewhere around the world. The paper argues that these postcolonial-inspired notions misconstrue Chinese national identity building as imperialist/colonialist endeavours, and dichotomize Han and Chinese ethnic minorities. The paper offers its counterargument by examining cinematic practices of people’s cinema, minority nationality films and native-language films in the PRC.

“Western Marxism” In Mao’S China, Jun Zeng, Yichen Wang

CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture

China’s reception of “Western Marxism” is a critical part of the global history of Marxism. This paper examines three aspects of the reception of Western Marxism in literary and art criticism during the early years of Mao’s China (1949-65): the Western Marxist critique of surrealism, debates over Marx’s Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844, and Sartrean existentialism and Western Marxism. The impacts of Western Marxist literary thought upon Chinese literary studies during the early years of the PRC are discussed, along with the extensive influx of Western Marxism that began in the reform era of post-Mao China (1978- ) …