Intercultural studies of traditional Chinese theatre, or xiqu, remain marginal and thus inadequately discussed in Western academia. Chinese studies in this field, though abundant, tend to ignore the Western discourse. In this sense, this book is foregrounded by its meticulous research within both Chinese and Western sociopolitical and theoretical contexts.
The book engages in dialogue with new interculturalism embraced by theorists such as Erika Fischer-Lichte, Rustom Bharucha, Ric Knowles and Charlotte McIvor, and contemporary Chinese xiqu studies initiated by scholars like Li Ruru, Wang An-ch'i and Chen Fang. Feng positions this within the framework of Bakhtin's dialogism, James O. Young's cultural appropriation and Toby Nellhaus's concept of ‘agents’. Its major contribution lies in a polemic against earlier hegemonic intercultural theories built upon Western appropriation of the East and for ‘the plurality of theatrical interculturalism in historical and modern China’ (p. 234). The author also reconsiders the significance of multidimensional ‘dialogue’ and complements the impact of ‘agents’ embodied by multi-background artists in intercultural theatrical practices.
The publication investigates nuances of theatrical aesthetics – from playwriting, acting and scenography to the stage–audience/spectator relationship – in the larger landscape of xiqu's modernity, cultural heritage and identity, power dynamics and intercultural ethics. Four typologies of intercultural dialogue evolve from the argument, including the single egoistic voice of Chinese tradition, the one-sided dominance of the Western voice, organic deconstructive hybridity and dialogic performative fusion. They are scattered in six Chinese jingju, sixianxi and chuanju adaptations of five Western plays (King Lear, Waiting for Godot, Macbeth, The Good Person of Szechwan and Antony and Cleopatra) since the inception of xiqu's modernity in 1978.
Among these dialogic models, the last two are advocated by the author as the paragon of intercultural xiqu practices. In chapter 3, ‘Border-Crossing Chou Actors in Beckettian Jingju’, the author elucidates an ideal jingju intercultural adaptation that showcases organic deconstructive cultural hybridity both thematically and formally through analysis of Taiwanese Contemporary Legend Theatre's production of Waiting for Godot. He delineates the history of chou (one of xiqu's role types) in relation to Chan Buddhism and Beckett's philosophy of language. The Buddhist paradox of ineffable truth and inevitable use of unconventional language to spread truth also characterizes chou's speaking style and Beckett's belief ‘in the futility and, paradoxically, necessity of language in depicting a real world’ (p. 100). Formally, the ‘actors’ feigned failure to conform to jingju's rules’ (p. 121) both embodies ‘Beckett's philosophy of failure’ (p. 94) and achieves formal innovation of jingju.
A strength of the book comes from its cultural-historical insight and apt theoretical approaches. For instance, in chapter 5, ‘Reframing Audience Experiences: Brechtian Estrangement and Metatheatricality Displaced in Xiqu’, the author interrogates Brecht's misinterpretation of xiqu to accommodate his ‘alienation effect’ and Chinese adaptors’ ignorance of illusionism inherent in xiqu's artistry. He argues that Chinese theatre scholars and practitioners endorsed Brecht after the Cultural Revolution on the larger China–Soviet political landscape that led to Chinese scholars’ abandonment of Stanislavsky's dominance. In this regard, the Chengdu Chuanju Group's adaptation of The Good Person of Szechwan in 1987 epitomizes theatrical practices of Chinese artists ‘enthralled by Brecht's charm in an age of cultural inferiority’ (p. 203).
This publication also has an edge in its wide range of references, some of which are rarely mentioned by Western researchers. In the introductory part, it maps out the intercultural historical trajectory of xiqu since the thirteenth century with references to anthropology, music, religion and language studies. In this respect, researchers from these fields can seek inspiration.
The only seeming weakness of the book lies in a lack of research focus on intercultural xiqu adaptations of marginal Western plays, probably due to a limited number of such Chinese productions (as they are less likely to win audience favour than are mainstream ones).
To conclude, the book elaborates possible solutions and pitfalls of intercultural xiqu practices and proposes paradigms for intercultural dialogue. The aporias it unveils open new vistas for both interculturalism and theatre scholarship that anticipates fruitful dialogues in intercultural encounters between China and the West, modernity and tradition in the mobilities of globalization.
