A Preliminary Exploration of Theatre Anthropology: Ritual, Theatre, and Community

Author: Rong Shicheng
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-10-01
Features: The interactive relationship between literature, art, and anthropology is one of the key topics in cultural studies in recent two or three decades. Based on this theoretical stance, this book explores the close connection between performing arts and religious rituals. The author has made significant achievements in studying Chinese Southern opera and has participated in field research multiple times. The collected essays not only trace the evolution of major opera genres but also examine the interpretive influences of specific times and spaces on theaters and rituals. This book is one of the few works in academia related to the anthropology of opera. Starting from the perspectives of opera and theater studies, it explores the tight link between performing arts and religious rituals. Between the illusory realism of the theater and the divine revelation of the festival, there is a subtle exchange between the audience and the believers, as well as between the performers and the ritualists. Through this, the cohesive power of a community is repeatedly tested. The book takes the Singaporean Chinese ethnic group as its research subject, further delving into the new impacts that theater and religion bring to ethnic imagination and practice after they cross the ocean.