Worldly Stage: Theatricality in Seventeenth-Century China Available to Purchase

Inspired by the Shakespearean conception of the world as a stage, Sophie Volpp conceives the world of seventeenth-century China as a stage. Her discussion is premised on a rubric of “theatrical spectatorship” that equates social roles and theatrical roles, analogizes acting and “social imposture,” and conceives theater as a figure for the disjunction of illusion and actuality. Wielding this rubric, Volpp investigates an array of seemingly disparate materials: Zhang Dai's memoir of the theater (seventeenth century); the school and farm scenes in Tang Xianzu's famous play The Peony Pavilion (1598); Wang Jide's short play The Male Queen (late Ming); poems about the cross-dressing actor Xu Ziyun by certain poets who belonged to Chen Weisong's circle (early Qing); and the figure of the story-teller Liu Jingting in Kong Shangren's famous play The Peach Blossom Fan (1699). Volpp's discussion focuses on the complex intersection or interaction between certain dichotomous elements: the theatrical...