Maoist model theatre : the semiotics of gender and sexuality in the Chinese Cultural Revolution (1966-1976)

Author(s)

• Roberts, Rosemary A.

Bibliographic Information

Maoist model theatre : the semiotics of gender and sexuality in the Chinese Cultural Revolution (1966-1976)

by Rosemary A. Roberts

（Women and gender in China studies / edited by Grace S. Fong, v. 2）

Brill, 2010

Note

Bibliography: p. [267]-275

Includes index

Description and Table of Contents

Description

Here is a convincing reflection that changes our understanding of gender in Maoist culture, esp. for what critics from the 1990s onwards have termed its 'erasure' of gender and sexuality. In particular the strong heroines of the yangbanxi, or 'model works' which dominated the Cultural Revolution period, have been seen as genderless revolutionaries whose images were damaging to women. Drawing on contemporary theories ranging from literary and cultural studies to sociology, this book challenges that established view through detailed semiotic analysis of theatrical systems of the yangbanxi including costume, props, kinesics, and various audio and linguistic systems. Acknowledging the complex interplay of traditional, modern, Chinese and foreign gender ideologies as manifest in the 'model works', it fundamentally changes our insights into gender in Maoist culture.

Table of Contents

List of Tables List of Illustrations Acknowledgements List of Abbreviations Chapter One Introduction: Gender and the Model Works The Cultural Revolution and the Yangbanxi Origins of the Yangbanxi Ideological Foundations of the Yangbanxi Chinese Language Scholarship on the Yangbanxi English Language Scholarship on the Yangbanxi Research on Gender in the Cultural Revolution On the Masculinisation of Women and the Erasure of Femininity Semiotics of the Th eatre as a Tool for Gender Analysis of the Yangbanxi Story Synopses: The Red Lantern (Hong deng ji) Shajiabang Chapter Two Role Assignment and Gender: Resetting the Paradigms The Role Distribution of the Central Heroic Characters Linguistic Systems Props Kinesics: Facial Mime, Gesture, Movement Music: Vocal Techniques Makeup, Hairstyles and Costumes Subverting Tradition Through Radicalized Conservatism Concluding Remarks Story Synopses: Taking Tiger Mountain by Strategy (Zhi qu weihu shan) Raid on White Tiger Regiment (Qixi Baihutuan) Chapter Three Costume in the Yangbanxi: Gendering the Revolutionary Body Fashion Theory and the Yangbanxi: Some Theoretical Issues Bodies and Faces Hair and Female Beauty Costume Costume Fabrics and Designs Concluding Remarks Story Synopses: On the Docks (Haigang) The Red Detachment of Women (Hongse niangzi jun) Chapter Four Gender and the Kinesics of Yangbanxi Ballet The Classical Ballet Tradition The Yangbanxi Ballets Gender in Dance Performance: a Methodology for Analysis Yangbanxi Ballet Kinetic Analysis Roles and Individual Dance Movements Interactive Dance Movement On Bodies and Sensuality Concluding Remarks Story Synopses: The White-haired Girl (Baimao nu) Song of the Dragon River (Long jiang song) Chapter Five Feminising Leadership in Song of the Dragon River The Creation of Song of the Dragon River Major Characters and the Plot of Song of the Dragon River Semiotic Systems and Codes for Analysis Femininity, Masculinity and Leadership in Maoist Culture Hairstyle and Costume Verbal Linguistic Systems Gender Differences in Relationship Management Non-Verbal Language Systems Props Sexuality, Motherhood and Female Leadership in a Masculine Environment Conclusions: Female Leadership and the Yangbanxi Story Synopses: Azalea Mountain (Dujuan shan) Fighting on the Plains (Pingyuan zuozhan) Chapter Six The Yangbanxi Heroine and the Historical Tradition of the Chinese Woman Warrior The Woman Warrior in Chinese Historical Records and Traditional Culture Mulan as a Model for Women in the Twentieth Century Gender, Sexuality and the Woman Warrior Women Warriors of the Yangbanxi The Cultural Model and Gendered Audience Response Story Synopses: Boulder Bay (Panshi wan) Ode to Yimeng (Yimeng song)-ballet Red Cloud Ridge (Hong yungang) or Red Sister (Hong sao)-Beijing Opera Sons and Daughters of the Grasslands (Caoyuan er nu) Chapter Seven Gendering the Counter-Revolution The Feminisation of Villainy Symbolic Gendering through Yin-Yang Symbolism Cultural Attitudes to Homosexuality in Chinese Culture Negative Stereotypes of Homosexual Males in Theatre and Film Visual and Aural (Ef)feminisation of the Counter-Revolution Hair Vocal Feminisation Costume Kinesics and Proxemics The Gendering of Personal Qualities of the Yangbanxi Villains Conclusions Chapter Eight The Yangbanxi and Gender Identities in Post-Maoist China Bibliography Yangbanxi Filmography Index

by "Nielsen BookData"

Details

• NCID: BB00840148
• ISBN:
  • 9789004177444
• LCCN: 2009029003
• Country Code: ne
• Title Language Code: eng
• Text Language Code: eng
• Place of Publication: Leiden
• Pages/Volumes: xxii, 285 p.
• Size: 25 cm
• Classification:
  • LCC : PN2874
  • DC22 : 792.0951
• Subject Headings:
  • LCSH : Theater -- Political aspects -- China -- History -- 20th century
  • LCSH : Gender identity in the theater -- China
  • LCSH : Sex in the theater -- China
  • LCSH : Women in the theater -- China
  • LCSH : Women and communism -- China
  • LCSH : Communism and sex -- China
• Parent Bibliography ID:
  • BA90990184