Uncrossing the Borders: Performing Chinese in Gendered (Trans)Nationalism PDF
Preview Uncrossing the Borders: Performing Chinese in Gendered (Trans)Nationalism
Revised Pages Uncrossing the Borders Revised Pages Revised Pages Uncrossing the Borders Performing Chinese in Gendered (Trans)Nationalism Daphne P. Lei University of Michigan Press Ann Arbor Revised Pages Copyright © 2019 by Daphne P. Lei All rights reserved This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, including illustrations, in any form (beyond that copying permitted by Sections 107 and 108 of the U.S. Copyright Law and except by reviewers for the public press), without written permission from the publisher. Published in the United States of America by the University of Michigan Press Manufactured in the United States of America Printed on acid-f ree paper First published July 2019 A CIP catalog record for this book is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication data has been applied for. ISBN 978- 0- 472- 13137- 2 (hardcover : alk. paper) ISBN 978- 0- 472- 12523- 4 (e- book) Cover images: (foreground) Scene from The Dialogue at the Green Mound (Qingzhong qiande duihua, 2006), courtesy National Center for Traditional Arts GuoGuang Opera Company; (background) from a facsimile of Mourning the Pipa (Diao pipa) by You Tong (Newly Edited Zaju, edited by Zou Shijin, ca. 1661; rpt.,Wujin: Songfenshi, 1941). Revised Pages To my mother, sisters, and all the erased and silenced women in history Revised Pages Revised Pages Contents Acknowledgments ix List of Illustrations xiii Introduction 1 Chapter 1 / The Performative Border Archetype: Wang Zhaojun 39 Chapter 2 / Border Survivors of the Two- Way Crossings: Cai Yan, Su Wu, and Li Ling on the Permeable Border 101 Chapter 3 / Popular Theater Rescues the Nation: Remapping and Redefining Borders at the Turn of the Twentieth Century 169 Chapter 4 / The State of the Art: Border- Crossing Drama in Chinese Modernities and Transnationalities 205 Conclusion 249 Glossary 261 Notes 265 Bibliography 309 Index 329 Digital materials related to this title can be found the Fulcrum platform via the following citable URL: https://doi.org/10.3998/mpub.9769082 Revised Pages Revised Pages Acknowledgments The original research for this project started more than two decades ago. After the digression of writing and publishing two other books, I returned to my first love, the “old” Chinese stories, and immediately realized that they are the most timely and timeless tales today. The reconfirmation of the con- temporary relevance of the centuries- old genre is also disheartening. Have we not progressed at all? Needless to say, both the original project and the revision rely on the help of many individuals and institutions. Dr. William Huizhu Sun men- tioned the name Wang Zhaojun during one of our direct reading classes at Tufts, where I was pursuing my PhD in drama in the 1990s. Despite our distinctive upbringings, being “Chinese,” both of us were familiar with this name, the basic story, and the symbolism. Both of us were utterly surprised, however, by the performativity and adaptability of her story in the political arena throughout history. The research on Wang Zhaojun for a term paper soon took on a life of its own and transformed into a much larger project on border crossing and gendered nationalism. Although Dr. Sun left Tufts before I started my dissertation writing, he kindly flew from Shanghai for my defense a few years later. I want to express my sincere gratitude to Dr. Sun for his inspiration, guidance, and continuous friendship. I intentionally turned away from this project in the past decade while I was working on my two other books from the transpacific and intercultural perspectives. When I decided to return to this topic, I taught a PhD seminar on “border crossing” at University of California, Irvine in 2016. I would like to thank my students, who have helped me contextualize this topic in a very different cultural and political milieu from the one in the 1990s. Teaching and advising PhD students has provided me the greatest joy and inspiration. I have been very privileged and fortunate to be working as an academic. My deep gratitude goes to LeAnn Fields, the chief editor, and her team at the University of Michigan Press, who have guided me throughout the long publication process. I appreciate the feedback from the readers of the
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