Theaters of Desire Authors, Readers, and the Reproduction of Early Chinese Song-Drama, 1300-2000

by Sieber, Patricia

• ISBN13: 9781403961945
• ISBN10: 1403961948
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2003-07-18
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Summary

Blending a flair for textual nuance with theoretical engagement, Theaters of Desire not only contributes to our understanding of the most influential form of early Chinese song-drama in local and international cultural contexts, but adds a Chinese perspective to the scholarship on print culture, authorship, and the regulatory discourses of desire. The book argues that, particularly between 1550 and 1680, Chinese elite editors rewrote and printed early plays and songs, so-called Yuan-dynasty zaju and sanqu , to imagine and embody new concepts of authorship, readership and desire, an interpretation that contrasts starkly with the national and racially-oriented reception of song-drama developed by European critics after 1735 and subsequently modified by Japanese and Chinese critics after 1897. By analyzing the critical and material facets of the early song and play tradition across different historical periods and cultural settings, Theaters of Desire presents a compelling case study of literary canon formation.

Author Biography

Patricia Sieber is Assistant Professor, Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures, Ohio State University.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Prologue
Introduction: Rewriting Early Chinese Zaju Song-Drama for Transnational, National, and Local Contexts	p. 1
Art Song Anthologies, Editorial Attributions, and the Cult of Affect: Guan Hanqing (ca. 1220 - ca. 1300) and the Transformation of Attestory Authorship	p. 45
Early Song-Drama Collections, Examination Requirements, and the Exigencies of Desire: Li Kaixian (1502-68), Zang Maoxun (1550-1620), and the Uses of Reproductive Authorship	p. 83
Xixiang ji Editions, the Bookmarket, and the Discourse on Obscenity: Wang Jide (d. 1623), Jin Shengtan (1608-61), and the Creation of Uncommon Readers	p. 123
Conclusion: Thinking Through Authors, Readers, and Desire	p. 163
Notes	p. 179
Bibliography	p. 223
Glossary	p. 245
Index	p. 253
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