The People’s Republic of Shakespeare

Hello! My name is Megan and I am very excited to contribute to the exciting blogs already publishing information about undergraduate research. In this post I hope to give a brief overview of my project and the questions it usually raises.

I am an English and Theater major entering my junior year at William & Mary while pursuing an unofficial Chinese minor on the side. During the summer of 2008, I fulfilled a year’s worth of planning and traveled to China to research the transnational differences in localized Chinese Shakespeare productions.

This blog might be of interest to you if you’re curious about Shakespeare, performance studies, Chinese language, cultural identity, or if you’d just like to hear some amusing stories about navigating the unique cultural and political differences in China. I promise tales of adventure (zip lining over the Great Wall, precariously entering a Communist controlled library) and stories of awkward misunderstandings (avoiding audience participation in a Cantonese street theatre, contemplating how to eat a mysterious dish in a posh tea house).

This project has not only opened my eyes to new perspectives on the world and on literature, it has convinced me to change the course of my education and pursue new fields after I graduate. I cannot speak highly enough of the opportunities performing undergraduate research has provided me. Therefore this blog will attempt to answer any questions about designing a research project or even the difficulties of studying in a country that tries to limit open access to information.

As a means to provide an overview of my topic and methods, I’ll begin with questions I am often asked to answer when describing this project

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Is there really Shakespeare in China?

This is the most common question I get when I discuss my project. Of course I understand entirely since it took me a month of research to convince myself that this topic of study would be viable. Now I can answer this question with a resounding “yes.” In fact I can say that Shakespeare is one of the most frequently studied and performed Western authors in China. The above photograph is a picture I took of the Shakespeare bust at the Shanghai Theatre Academy, hopefully proof enough for now that Shakespeare performances are common in China.

2. Where did you go in China?

I traveled to four cities in Asia: Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Taipei. My goal was to illuminate differences in interpretation that result from the four diverse histories of these cities.

(As a side note, I must also explain the title of this blog. I am aware that Taiwan is not part of “The People’s Republic of China” but it makes a more snazzy title. My apologies to anyone who thinks I am making a political statement )

3. Did you actually see Shakespeare performances?

While I was in China I had the privilege to see a live Shakespeare adaptation, and access many Shakespeare-related materials in libraries and bookstores including videos of past productions. I also saw a number of other live performances to help me understand Chinese theater. Before and after my trip I watched over a dozen videos of Chinese Shakespeare productions.

4. Can you understand Chinese Shakespeare?

Yes and no. I have only finished four semesters of Mandarin so far. My language abilities did allow me to communicate on the street, buy food and theatre tickets, and ask librarians questions but I knew long before I started research that I would have very little hope of understanding translations of Elizabethan English.

However, I knew enough Chinese and enough details about Shakespearian plots that I never lost track of the general gist of every conversation. My strategy was to notice the little words and phrases I had learned ( vocab like “father” “to die” and “love” was naturally, invaluable ) and pinpoint the actor’s location in the text with that knowledge. Additionally, performance studies is a field that does not require a minute analysis of a text. Instead every aspect of performance from costume and set design, to characterization becomes a topic of study.

I hope I’ve answered most of the general questions about my work before I go into detail. I would be more than happy to attempt to answer any remaining questions or just to hear any comments that may exist. Thanks to those who have read thus far!