Maoist model theatre : the semiotics of gender and sexuality in the Chinese Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) / / by Rosemary A. Roberts.

• Superior document: Women and gender in China studies, v. 2
• Author: Roberts, Rosemary A.
• Year of Publication: 2010
• Language: English
• Series: Women and gender in China studies ; v. 2.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (312 p.)
• Notes: Description based upon print version of record.

Here is a convincing reflection that changes our understanding of gender in Maoist culture, esp. for what critics from the 1990's 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

Preliminary Material / R. Roberts -- Chapter One. Introduction: Gender And The Model Works / R. Roberts -- Chapter Two. Role Assignment And Gender: Resetting The Paradigms / R. Roberts -- Chapter Three. Costume In The Yangbanxi: Gendering The Revolutionary Body / R. Roberts -- Chapter Four. Gender And The Kinesics Of Yangbanxi Ballet / R. Roberts -- Chapter Five. Feminising Leadership In Song Of The Dragon River / R. Roberts -- Chapter Six. The Yangbanxi Heroine And The Historical Tradition Of The Chinese Woman Warrior / R. Roberts -- Chapter Seven. Gendering The Counter-Revolution: The Feminisation Of Villainy / R. Roberts -- Chapter Eight. The Yangbanxi And Gender Identities In Post-Maoist China / R. Roberts -- Bibliography / R. Roberts -- Yangbanxi Filmography / R. Roberts -- Index / R. Roberts.