Maoist model theatre : the semiotics of gender and sexuality in the Chinese Cultural Revolution (1966-1976)
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
Maoist model theatre : the semiotics of gender and sexuality in the Chinese Cultural Revolution (1966-1976)
(Women and gender in China studies / edited by Grace S. Fong, v. 2)
Brill, 2010
Available at 3 libraries
  Aomori
  Iwate
  Miyagi
  Akita
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  Fukushima
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  Tochigi
  Gunma
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  Tokyo
  Kanagawa
  Niigata
  Toyama
  Ishikawa
  Fukui
  Yamanashi
  Nagano
  Gifu
  Shizuoka
  Aichi
  Mie
  Shiga
  Kyoto
  Osaka
  Hyogo
  Nara
  Wakayama
  Tottori
  Shimane
  Okayama
  Hiroshima
  Yamaguchi
  Tokushima
  Kagawa
  Ehime
  Kochi
  Fukuoka
  Saga
  Nagasaki
  Kumamoto
  Oita
  Miyazaki
  Kagoshima
  Okinawa
  Korea
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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"