Peking opera and politics in Taiwan / Nancy Guy.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Guy, Nancy, 1960-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Operas, Chinese--Political aspects--Taiwan.

Operas, Chinese.

Operas, Chinese--Political aspects.

Taiwan.

Operas, Chinese--Taiwan--History and criticism.

Physical Description:

xv, 230 pages : illustrations, 1 map ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Urbana : University of Illinois Press, [2005]

Summary:

Peking Opera and Politics in Taiwan tells the peculiar story of an art caught in a sea of ideological ebbs and flows. Nancy Guy demonstrates the potential significance of the political environment for an art form's development, ranging from determining the smallest performative details (such as how a melody can or cannot be composed) to whether a tradition ultimately thrives or withers away. When Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalist government and military retreated to Taiwan in 1949, they brought along numerous Peking opera performers. Expecting that this symbolically important art would strengthen regime legitimacy and authority, they generously supported Peking opera's perpetuation in exile. Valuing mainland Chinese culture above Taiwanese culture, the Nationalists generously supported Peking opera to the virtual exclusion of local performing traditions, despite their wider popularity. Later, as Taiwan turned toward democracy, the island's own "indigenous" products became more highly valued and Peking opera found itself on a tenuous footing. Finally, in 1995, all of its opera troupes and schools (formerly supported by the Ministry of Defense) were dismantled.

Contents:

The variable conditions and meanings of patronage

The search for international recognition

Peking opera in service of state ideology

The state regulation of repertoire

The consequences of exile, the challenges of contact

The musical legacy of isolation, the shock of reunification

Democratization and the dismantling of "national opera".

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [187]-222) and index.

ISBN:

0252029739

OCLC:

56683006