Women in Asian Performance: Aesthetics and Politics PDF
Preview Women in Asian Performance: Aesthetics and Politics
WOMEN IN ASIAN PERFORMANCE Women in Asian Performance offers a vital re-assessment of women’s contributions to Asian performance traditions, focusing for the first time on their specific histor - ical, cultural and performative contexts. Arya Madhavan brings together leading scholars from across the globe to make an exciting intervention into current debates around femininity and female representation on stage. This collection looks afresh at the often centuries-old aesthetic theories and acting conventions that have informed ideas of gender in Asian performance. It is divided into three parts: • erasure– the history of the presence and absence of female bodies on Asian stages; • intervention – the politics of female intervention into patriarchal performance genres; • reconstruction – the strategies and methods adopted by women in redefining their performance practice. Establishing a radical, culturally specific approach to addressing female performance- making, Women in Asian Performanceis a must-read for scholars and students across Asian Studies and Performance Studies. Arya Madhavan is Senior Lecturer in Performing Arts at the University of Lincoln, UK, and a practising kutiyattam performer. This page intentionally left blank WOMEN IN ASIAN PERFORMANCE Aesthetics and politics Edited by Arya Madhavan First published 2017 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Routledge 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2017 selection and editorial matter, Arya Madhavan; individual chapters, the contributors The right of Arya Madhavan to be identified as the author of the editorial material, and of the authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Names: Madhavan, Arya, editor. Title: Women in Asian performance : aesthetics and politics / [edited by] Arya Madhavan. Description: Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY : Routledge, 2017. Identifiers: LCCN 2016033830| ISBN 9781138917811 (hardback) | ISBN 9781138917828 (pbk.) | ISBN 9781315688800 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: Women in the performing arts—Asia. | Women in the performing arts—Political aspects—Asia. Classification: LCC PN1590.W64 W596 2017 | DDC 791.082/095—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016033830 ISBN: 978-1-138-91781-1 (hbk) ISBN: 978-1-138-91782-8 (pbk) ISBN: 978-1-315-68880-0 (ebk) Typeset in Bembo and Stone Sans by Florence Production Ltd, Stoodleigh, Devon, UK I dedicate this book to the fond memories of Margi Sathi, who was my Guru of kutiyattam and a most remarkable actor and person. I will miss you always! This page intentionally left blank CONTENTS List of illustrations ix Notes on contributors x Acknowledgements xiii Introduction 1 Arya Madhavan PART I Erasure 13 1 The woman thing: issues and advances for women in Sundanese performance 15 Kathy Foley 2 Women in a man’s world: gender and power in Japanese noh theatre 28 Barbara Geilhorn 3 “Just like a woman”: female impersonation, gender construction and role playing in Begum Barve 39 Angelie Multani 4 Feminist Asian cosmopolitanism in Singapore tango clubs 52 Shzr Ee Tan viii Contents 5 Stars on the rise: the jingju actresses in Republican China 66 Xing Fan PART II Intervention 81 6 Between roars and tears: towards the female kathakali 83 Arya Madhavan 7 “Ruined by several actresses who added pornographic elements”: the popularity of emerging actresses in Chinese jingju (Beijing opera) and the censorship of two plays 97 Siyuan Liu 8 Theatre of Kishida Rio: towards re-signification of “home” for women in Asia 110 Nobuko Anan 9 Foreign female interventions in traditional Asian arts: Rebecca Teele and Cristina Formaggia 124 Margaret Coldiron 10 An unexpected voice: performance, gender and protecting tradition in Korean mask dance dramas 142 CedarBough T. Saeji PART III Reconstruction 157 11 Rasatrialogue: the politics of the female body in Asian performance 159 Sreenath Nair 12 Nangiar kuthu: interference, intervention and inheritance 173 Diane Daugherty 13 Women in British Asian theatre 187 Graham Ley Index 199 ILLUSTRATIONS Figures 10.1 The old grandmother from Gasan Ogwangdae and Bongsan Talchum. 147 11.1 The independent entity of individual elements in the performance. 168 12.1 Margi Sathi as Yashoda, Krishna’s foster mother, 2001. 178 Table 5.1 A set programme of Spinning Cottonas performed by Tong Zhiling, Liang Cishan and Ci Shaoquan in 1947. 74
The list of books you might like
