Transpacific Operatic Imagination: Chinese Americans in Opera

Research and writing leading to a book about Chinese Americans and operatic traditions, from the 1850s to the present.I am requesting NEH support to write Transpacific Operatic Imagination: Chinese Americans in Opera, a book that examines three intertwined histories. From the 1850s, Chinese opera was a significant and widespread musical theater practice essential to Chinese communities located throughout North America—it represents the first history. The second is a history of imagined 'Chinese' opera, of yellowface works that employ the 'Chinese opera trope.' The third is a history of contemporary operas created by Chinese Americans and performed by major opera houses. Although these recent contemporary operas are significantly different from those that are part of the two earlier histories, they cannot escape being perceived through similar perspectives, as suggested by the receptions of these recent contemporary operas. By examining all three together, I seek to understand better how the artistic and cultural past has shaped the formation of operatic and theatrical identity and reception today.