Acting the right part : political theater and popular drama in contemporary China

__Acting the Right Part__ is a cultural history of __huaju__ (modern Chinese drama) from 1966 to 1996. Xiaomei Chen situates her study both in the context of Chinese literary and cultural history and in the context of comparative drama and theater, cultural studies, and critical issues relevant to national theater worldwide. Following a discussion of the marginality of modern Chinese drama in relation to other genres, periods, and cultures, early chapters focus on the dynamic relationship between theater and revolution. Chosen during the Cultural Revolution as the exclusive artistic vehicle to promote proletariat art, "model theater" raises important questions about the complex relationships between women, memory, nation/state, revolution, and visual culture. Throughout this study, Chen argues that dramatic norms inform both theatrical performance and everyday political behavior in contemporary China.

This book explores the possibilities and limits of terms such as "body," "woman," "gender," and "agency" - categories that emerged within the context of western philosophical, religious, and feminist debates—to analyze texts that come out of altogether different temporal and cultural contexts. Through close textual readings of a wide range of classical and medieval narratives, from well-known works such as the Tale of Genji to popular Buddhist tales, Rajyashree Pandey offers new ways of understanding such terms within the context of medieval Buddhist knowledge.

Pandey suggests that "woman" in medieval Japanese narratives does not constitute a self-evident and distinct category, and that there is little in these works to indicate that the sexed body was the single most important and overarching site of difference between men and women. She argues that the body in classical and medieval texts is not understood as something constituted through flesh, blood, and bones, or as divorced from the mind, and that in the Tale of Genji it becomes intelligible not as an anatomical entity but rather as something apprehended through robes and hair. Pandey provocatively claims that "woman" is a fluid and malleable category, one that often functions as a topos or figural site for staging debates not about real life women, but rather about delusion, attachment, and enlightenment, issues of the utmost importance to the Buddhist medieval world.

Pandey's book challenges many of the assumptions that have become commonplace in academic writings on women and Buddhism in medieval Japan. She questions the validity of speaking of Buddhism's misogyny, women's oppression, passivity, or proto-feminism, and points to the anachronistic readings that result when fundamentally modern questions and concerns are transposed unreflexively onto medieval Japanese texts. Taking a broad, interdisciplinary approach, and engaging widely with literature, religious studies, and feminism, while paying close attention to medieval texts and genres, Pandey boldly throws down the gauntlet, challenging some of the sacred cows of contemporary scholarship on medieval Japanese women and Buddhism.

Xiaomei Chen Situates Her Study Of Huaju (modern Chinese Drama) Both In The Context Of Chinese Literary And Cultural History And Of Comparative Drama And Theater, Cultural Studies, And Critical Issues Relevant To National Theater Worldwide. Chosen During The Cultural Revolution As The Exclusive Artistic Vehicle To Promote Proletariat Art, 'model Theater' Raises Important Questions About The Complex Relationships Between Women, Memory, Nation/state, Revolution, And Visual Culture. Throughout This Study, Chen Argues That Dramatic Norms Inform Both Theatrical Performance And Everyday Political Behavior In Contemporary China.--page 4 Of Cover. Introduction : Why Not Modern Chinese Drama? -- Operatic Revolutions : Tradition, Memory, And Women In Model Theater -- Family, Village, Nation/state, And The Third World : The Imagined Communities In Model Theater -- Audience, Applause And Actor : Border Crossing In Social Problem Plays -- Performing Tiananmen : From Street Theater To Theater Of The Street -- A Stage Of Their Own : Feminism, Countervoices, And The Problematics Of Women's Theater -- From Discontented Mother To Woman Warrior : Body Politics In Post-maoist Theater -- A Stage In Search Of A Tradition : The Dynamics Of Form And Content In Post-maoist Theater -- A Selected List Of Plays In English Translation. Xiaomei Chen. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [409]-437) And Index. Contents Acknowledgments Prologue Chapter one: Introduction Chapter two: Operatic Revolutions Chapter three: Family, Village, Nation/State, and the Third World Chapter four: Audience, Applause, and Actor Chapter five: Performing Tiananmen Chapter six: A Stage of Their Own Chapter seven: From Discontented Mother to Woman Warrior Chapter eight: A Stage in Search of a Tradition Appendix Notes Glossary Bibliography Index This title provides a cultural history of ""huaju"" (modern Chinese drama) from 1966 to 1996. It is situated both in the context of Chinese literary and cultural history and in the context of comparative drama and theatre, cultural studies and critical issues relevant to national theatre worldwide.