The volume under review contains interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary studies of various genres of the performing arts, based on analyses of textual representations of these arts. Vibeke Børdahl, the organizer of the 2007 symposium in Oslo where these papers were first presented, has dedicated many years to the study of traditional oral performances in contemporary China. One of her greatest contributions to this field is her role as project leader (with Fei Li as co-leader) of the video recording of 360 hours of storytelling by four master performers from Yangzhou. Given the rapid disappearance of many forms of traditional popular culture, one must applaud dedicated efforts to preserve expressions of popular culture for posterity. Similar efforts undertaken in the past have made the studies presently gathered in this volume possible.
The Interplay of the Oral and the Written in Chinese Popular Literature consists of an introduction, six chapters, a bibliography, and...
