Lecturer - Chinese Culture and Literature
About
Current research interests:
I am currently interested in all things in all things related to theatrical adaptation, but especially as it affects traditional Chinese opera, or xiqu. My dissertation examined changes to theatrical politics and performance in the middle of the twentieth century in China, as examined through print, performance and film. At the center of these different media is the ephemeral performance of the theatrical production, itself a target of repeated revisions and political reassessment. As I narrow my focus to the 1950s, I argue that every adaptation, whether made under the auspices of the Xiqu Reform Movement or simply as a product of artistic liberty, was in all instances an intervention into a set of political discourses involving the theatre. Some of these discourses pertained specifically to the political goals of the fledgling PRC government, but others hailed from older ideological structures for viewing xiqu as representative of modernity in China. Remediation to other forms, like film, with this invisible political work created space for multiple ideologies to intersect in new and interesting ways.
I am also interested in studies of the human condition particularly when facing the challenges of the post-human and even transhumanism, as technology brings enhancements to the human body. To these contemporary questions, I bring an interest in the historical elements and echoes a century earlier, in the boundaries of the concerns of humanism in the first half of the twentieth century. I tackle this thread through an examination of plays, stories and films of the non-human, including fox spirits, gods and goddesses, ghosts, and other animal spirits.
Current projects:
I am developing a manuscript that examines the political ramifications of the xiqu reform project and all its associated adaptation practices, developed from the basis of my dissertation, Theaters of Reform and Remediation: Xiqu (Chinese Opera) in the Mid-Twentieth Century. I also am revising a chapter on Tian Han and the politics of the Anti-Rightist Movement for a forthcoming book on modern Chinese theatre history. I also am part of a team of translators working on an abridged translation of the multi-volume work, Acting Tradition: Kunqu Master Performers on Chinese Opera Performance.
Teaching interests:
Operatic theatre, modern theatre, history of film, vernacular practices in culture, history of modern literature, dynastic Chinese theatre, post-humanism and literature of the non-human.
