Peking Opera's political and aesthetic influence on global musical theater

Research Questions Peking Opera (jingju) has played an important political role, as well as impacting Chinese aesthetics. To what extent has Peking Opera permeated both the political and the aesthetic functions of musical theater around the world? In particular, what are the most obvious areas of influence of Peking Opera on global art forms, and is preserving the “authenticity” of Peking Opera when it is performed abroad a function of audience appreciation or orientalism? Methodologies A review of literature will be the primary research method. In addition to a review of literature, several case studies demonstrating the direct aesthetic, staging, and musical influences of Peking Opera on the performance art of another country (besides Tawain) will add to the body of scholarly literature. Ideally, the case study will analyze live performances. If live performances are not possible to analyze, then YouTube videos will suffice for the analysis. Annotated Bibliography Goldstein, Joshua. Drama Kings. University of California Press, 2007. Drama Kings is a comprehensive English-language book on Peking Opera. The author focuses on political context, but also addresses the opera as performance art. Goldstein includes references to specific actors, their status and role in society, and the changing nature of the art form as it responded to changes in the environment, or to national and local politics. Because of this, I intend to use this source to show how Peking Opera is changing due to globalization. The author discusses things like how Peking opera is marketed to new audiences, which is a central theme in my research. This book will also illuminate the different manifestations of allusions to Peking Opera in other countries. Guy, Nancy. “Peking Opera as \\\\\\\"National Opera\\\\\\\" in Taiwan: What\\\\\\\'s in a Name?” Asian Theatre Journal, Vol. 12, No. 1, Spring 1995, pp. 85-103. This article by Nancy Guy focuses on how Taiwan uses Peking Opera as its own national opera, a subject that the author delves into in greater depth ten years later in the book Peking Opera and Politics in Taiwan. In this seminal article though, Guy offers insight into the traditionally political functions of Peking Opera, without neglecting to discuss its artistic, symbolic, and musicological elements. I will use this source to enhance my understanding of how and why Peking Opera is perceived, received, and then transformed when it is performed abroad. Guy, Nancy. Peking Opera and Politics in Taiwan. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2005. In Peking Opera and Politics in Taiwan, Nancy Guy shows how Taiwan effectively co-opted, appropriated, and adopted Peking Opera to call its own. Merging the arts with national identity is nothing new, of course, and I will use this source to draw attention to other nationalized musical theater that draws from Peking Opera.