Bibliographic Information

Two orientalist texts

edited by Maureen Honey and Jean Lee Cole

Rutgers University Press, c2002

  • : hbk
  • : pbk

Other Title

Madame Butterfly, and, A Japanese nightingale

Available at  / 17 libraries

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Note

Includes bibliographical references (p. [179]-184)

Contents of Works

  • Madame Butterfly / John Luther Long
  • A Japanese nightingale / Onoto Watanna (Winnifred Eaton)

Description and Table of Contents

Volume

: hbk ISBN 9780813530628

Description

Madame Butterfly (1898) and A Japanese Nightingale (1901) both appeared at the height of American fascination with Japanese culture. These two novellas are paired here together for the first time to show how they defined and redefined contemporary misconceptions of the """"Orient."""" This is the first reprinting of A Japanese Nightingale since its 1901 appearance, when it propelled Winnifred Eaton (using the pseudonym Onoto Watanna) to fame. John Luther Long's Madame Butterfly introduced American readers to the figure of the tragic geisha who falls in love with, and is then rejected by, a dashing American man; the opera Puccini based upon this work continues to enthrall audiences worldwide. Although Long emphasized the insensitivity of Westerners in their dealings with Asian people, the ever-faithful Cho-Cho-San typified Asian subservience and Western dominance. A Japanese Nightingale takes Long's revision several steps further. Eaton's heroine is powerful in her own right and is loved on her own terms. A Japanese Nightingale is also significant for its hidden personal nature. Although Eaton's pen name implied she was Japanese, she was, in fact, of Chinese descent. Living in a society that was virulently anti-Chinese, she used a Japanese screen for her own problematic identity, and A Japanese Nightingale tells us as much about the author's struggle to embrace her Asian heritage as it does about the stereotypes she contests.
Volume

: pbk ISBN 9780813530635

Description

Madame Butterfly (1898) and A Japanese Nightingale (1901) both appeared at the height of American fascination with Japanese culture. These two novellas are paired here together for the first time to show how they defined and redefined contemporary misconceptions of the "Orient." This is the first reprinting of A Japanese Nightingale since its 1901 appearance, when it propelled Winnifred Eaton (using the pseudonym Onoto Watanna) to fame. John Luther Long's Madame Butterfly introduced American readers to the figure of the tragic geisha who falls in love with, and is then rejected by, a dashing American man; the opera Puccini based upon this work continues to enthrall audiences worldwide. Although Long emphasized the insensitivity of Westerners in their dealings with Asian people, the ever-faithful Cho-Cho-San typified Asian subservience and Western dominance. A Japanese Nightingale takes Long's revision several steps further. Eaton's heroine is powerful in her own right and is loved on her own terms. A Japanese Nightingale is also significant for its hidden personal nature. Although Eaton's pen name implied she was Japanese, she was, in fact, of Chinese descent. Living in a society that was virulently anti-Chinese, she used a Japanese screen for her own problematic identity, and A Japanese Nightingale tells us as much about the author's struggle to embrace her Asian heritage as it does about the stereotypes she contests.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations Acknowledgments Introduction Note on the Texts Madame Butterfly by John Luther Long A Japanese Nightingale by Onoto Watanna Edited by Winnifred Eaton Appendix Glossary Bibliography

by "Nielsen BookData"

Details

  • NCID
    BA59048169
  • ISBN
    • 0813530628
    • 0813530636
  • LCCN
    2001048400
  • Country Code
    us
  • Title Language Code
    eng
  • Text Language Code
    eng
  • Place of Publication
    New Brunswick, N.J.
  • Pages/Volumes
    xii, 184 p.
  • Size
    24 cm
  • Subject Headings
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