Mary Mazzilli

University of Essex, Literature, Film, and Theatre Studies, Faculty Member

Goldsmiths, University of London, Theatre and Performance, Faculty Member

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Senior Lecturer at University of Essex in Drama and Literature.Her monograph Gao Xingjian’s Post-Exile Plays: Transnationalism and Postdramatic Theatre is published with Bloomsbury Methuen Drama.She has co-edited and contributed to Transnational Chinese Cinemas: Embodiment, Corporeality, Desire and the Ethics of Failure (Bridge21, 2014).Research associate at Soas – University of London after 2 years as a post-doctoral fellow at Nanyang Technological University- Singapore in the Division of English School of Humanities and Social Sciences. She was awarded a Phd from Soas University of London with a thesis -Gao Xingjian vs. Martin Crimp in between modernism and postmodernism.

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David Seamon

Kansas State University

Nina Glick Schiller

The University of Manchester

Rainier Grutman

University of Ottawa | Université d'Ottawa

Julia Hell

University of Michigan

Rob S E A N Wilson

University of California, Santa Cruz

Rossella Ferrari

University of Vienna

Anna Tabaki

National & Kapodistrian University of Athens

Mauro Grondona

University of Genova

Hatice Karaman

Yeditepe University

André Bueno

UERJ - Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro / Rio de Janeiro State University

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Papers by Mary Mazzilli

Exophony, Translation, and Transnationalism in Gao Xingjian’s French/Chinese Plays

Gao Xingjian’s Search for a Scenic Dramaturgy and Cinematic Language in Song of the Night

Defining Cold Theatre

Race, Occidentalism/Orientalism and Sino-centrism in Contemporary Chinese Theatre

In her 1995 book, Occidentalism: A Theory of Counter-Discourse in Post-Mao China, Chen Xiaomei us... more In her 1995 book, Occidentalism: A Theory of Counter-Discourse in Post-Mao China, Chen Xiaomei uses the term Occidentalism to define the appropriation of Western discourse by Chinese culture and stresses its political and ideological liberating effect. In 2004, Claire Conceison's Significant Other: Staging the American in China revisits the term Occidentalism by considering the representation of white Americans on the Chinese stage. Both studies are important in that they consider the tensions between West and East in Chinese culture but, even if both studies refer indirectly to race, they never deal with it directly. Thus, two important questions need to be asked: How is race performed on the contemporary Chinese stage, especially China's white 'other'? Is Chinese Occidentalism only further perpetuating a discourse of Orientalism by constructing racialist stereotypes of the 'other'? The contemporary theatre landscape in China has greatly changed since the two books were published, with more white Caucasians living and making theatre in China and with many more global transnational collaborations and cultural artist exchanges becoming the norm. Wang Chong emerging as one of the new faces in Chinese theatre epitomises China's contemporary fluid crosscultural theatrical landscape. Wang Chong, educated in both China and the USA, has built his career by adapting Western contemporary classics for the Chinese stage and more recently has produced theatre transnationally in the

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Intercultural and Cross-cultural Encounters during the Quatercentenary of Tang Xianzu and Shakespeare

Asian Theatre Journal, 2019

Many productions were staged to celebrate the 2016 quatercentenary of Tang Xianzu and Shakespeare... more Many productions were staged to celebrate the 2016 quatercentenary of Tang Xianzu and Shakespeare's death. Shakespeare-Tang Project celebrated both playwrights through the production of Midsummer Night's DREAMING Under the Southern Bough (Zhongxiaye Mengnanke), staged both in UK and in China. As part of a separate festival taking place in China, Shakespeare Lives, Britain's Gecko and the Shanghai Drama Art Center worked on a production that combines Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream with Tang's The Peony Pavilion. Do these international festivals cement an already well-established imaginary of a transnational global Shakespeare and his theatre in both China and UK? By investigating the reception of these productions, this article argues that Chinese theatre undergoes a process of "othering" and "self-orientalization" and there are hidden political agendas at play.

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The Poetics of Difference and Displacement: Twentieth-century Chinese–Western Intercultural Theatre. Min Tian. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2008. 292 pp. HK$395.00; $49.50. ISBN 978-962-2099-07-4

The China Quarterly, Jun 1, 2009

among many others. Chapter three focuses on the development of theories of the mind in revolution... more among many others. Chapter three focuses on the development of theories of the mind in revolutionary culture from the beginning of the 20th century. The title of this chapter is virtually the same as the book itself, an indication that it embodies the author's key argument. It seems to me that Larson has succeeded in setting up a paradigm of equal weight to Freudianism in the analysis of modern Chinese literature; I am less convinced that these are the only (or the two main) such models of literary writing and critical interpretation. This chapter is for several reasons the most problematic in the book. For all its fuzzy edges, multiple sources and self-contradictions, Freudianism as a concept is based on the writing of a single person and thus has a high degree of internal coherence, while the discourse of revolutionary spirit is a construct based on the author's own perceptions and inspirations from diverse sources. From this juncture, the impact of Freudianism on post-CR literature fades as part of the thematic argument, although the broader implications of the initial dichotomy reappear in the conclusion. Larson's hypothesis is tested in her three core chapters, in her examination of works by the writers Mang Ke, Wang Xiaobo and Anchee Min, and filmmakers Jiang Wen and He Jianjun. The common thread in these works (with one minor exception) is that the setting is the CR and the primary focus is on sexual desire, relationships and behaviour. Larson's project is in part a response to concerns about the study of modern Chinese literature in the US: Freudianism in Chinese literary studies represents the imposition of Western literary theories in general in the Chinese context, and its disappearance from these chapters signals the author's rejection of such impositions. In her conclusion, Larson deplores the tendency for Sinologists to apply Western literary and cultural theories to Chinese data without adaptation or adjustment to local circumstances, and the consequent rarity of allowing the theoretical dimensions of literary phenomena to arise from these local circumstances themselves. The general argument is rounded out by the author's reflections on the unstable status of studies on modern Chinese literature in US universities. Larson's meticulous and cogent readings are compelling; they should guarantee the book's inclusion in recommended texts for graduate courses. At the same time, her originality and spirit in confronting larger issues will surely set off further discussion. Larson once again makes an impressive contribution to modern Chinese literary and cultural studies.

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Gender in Gao Xingjian's Between Life and Death: The Notion of Originary Self and the Use of Tripartition

Frontiers of Literary Studies in China, Oct 23, 2015

The relationship between the sexes and the female condition are underlying motifs in Gao Xingjian... more The relationship between the sexes and the female condition are underlying motifs in Gao Xingjian’s post-exile plays, yet very few scholarly studies of his work have focused solely on the analysis of gender in his plays. In those studies that have, most have directed their attention toward Gao’s novels, and many scholars have come to regard Gao as a misogynist writer. This paper examines Gao’s attitude toward gender through an analysis of his plays, specifically Between Life and Death (Shengsijie, 1991). The theatrical medium illustrates a more complex elaboration of gender representation than those seen in Gao’s novels—one that complicates conceptions of the writer’s misogyny. Focusing on Between Life and Death, I assert that Gao’s alleged misogyny is a misrepresentation. Regarding my theoretical approach, I make particular reference to feminist theorists such as Julia Kristeva and Judith Butler. The debate is linked to Gao’s concept of an un-gendered/originary self and considers the use of dramatic devices—specifically focusing on the use of tripartition.

The Columbia Anthology of Modern Chinese Drama. Edited and with an introduction by Xiaomei Chen. New York: Columbia University Press, 2010. x + 1105 pp. $95.00; £65.50. ISBN 978-0-231-14570-1

The China Quarterly, Jun 1, 2011

memory of the Nanjing Massacre from 1937 to 1979, Xiaohong Xu and Lyn Spillman point out that the... more memory of the Nanjing Massacre from 1937 to 1979, Xiaohong Xu and Lyn Spillman point out that the Chinese Communist government also made use of the atomic bombing for their own purposes. In the 1950s and 1960s, the CCP strongly supported the Japanese anti-nuclear movement and addressed Hiroshima and Nagasaki as symbols of American aggression. At that time, China faced a nuclear threat from the US. The Nanjing Massacre played no central role in the official narrative. Memories of the anti-Japanese war were used to question the idea that Chiang Kai-shek and the Kuomintang were real Chinese patriots. The chapter on the movement for reparations for victims of Japanese aggression in PRC that developed in the 1990s provides other interesting insights. Bin Xu and Gary Fine argue that this grassroots movement was not very successful in gaining support from the central government in Beijing, but it developed when it started to address local governments and acted in the “low-risk area” of Chinese peripheral politics. In the second part of the book, the focus on memory of the Second World War disappears. More particularly, the section on South Korea focuses on experiences of colonialism and the Choson Monarchy as well as territorial conflicts with Japan about the Dokdo/ Takeshima Islands. Memory landscapes in North Korea and Taiwan are not part of the book. In the last chapter, Jae-Jung Suh raises the question of how Northeast Asia can overcome the conflicts of the past. Referring to the theory of discourse by Jürgen Habermas, Suh argues that a post-nationalist order does not require an agreement on all issues. In a regional public sphere, speakers and listeners should recognize each other as legitimate participants in a common discourse. However, one could argue that for the members of the former victimized countries it is difficult to accept an equal status with the descendants of the perpetrators. The question remains of how the Japanese can express regrets for war crimes in such a way that their apologies can be taken seriously by the Chinese and the Koreans. All in all, Northeast Asia’s Difficult Past is a welcome contribution to debates on collective memory and can be used as a textbook in classes on East Asian history. Some of the editors’ arguments may not be entirely convincing, but they are useful to spark an important debate on different memory cultures in a global context.

East-Asian Cinema 1900 to present days

SAGE Publications eBooks, 2012

In our age of globalization and multiculturalism, it has never been more important to understand ... more In our age of globalization and multiculturalism, it has never been more important to understand and appreciate all cultures across the world. The four volumes take a step forward in this endeavour by presenting concise information on those regions least well-known to students across Europe: the Middle East, Asia and Africa. The volumes convey what daily life is like for people in these selected regions. Entries will aid readers in understanding the importance of cultural sociology, to appreciate the effects of cultural forces around the world, and to learn the history of countries and cultures within these important regions. Key Features -Topics are explored within historical context, in three broad historical periods: prehistory to 1250, 1250 to 1920 and 1920 to the present. -One volume each is devoted to the regions of the Middle East and Africa and then one volume to East and Southeast Asia and a final volume to West, Central and South Asia. The volumes include extensive use of photographs and maps to explain cultural and geographic content. -Each volume has its own volume editor with expertise in that particular region. Key Themes Arts, Culture and Science People, Society and Dynasties Religion and Law Family and Daily Life Conflicts and Wars Politics and Government Health and Education Economy, Trade and Industry National Geography and History

“Theoretical studies of China: Comparative literature, the debate on postmodernism in China and the quest for a ‘transnational’ intellectual.”

Gao Xingjian’s Post-Exile Plays: Transnationalism and Postdramatic Theatre

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Gao Xingjian vs. Martin Crimp in between modernism and postmodernism

All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is d e p e n d e n ... more All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is d e p e n d e n t upon the quality of the copy subm itted. In the unlikely e v e n t that the a u thor did not send a c o m p le te m anuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if m aterial had to be rem oved, a n o te will ind ica te the deletion.

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Desiring the Bodies of Ruan Lingyu and Linda Lin Dai

This collection of essays on transnational Chinese cinema explores the corporal, psychological, a... more This collection of essays on transnational Chinese cinema explores the corporal, psychological, and affective aspects of experiencing bodies on screen; engages with the material and discursive elements of embodiment; and highlights the dynamics between the mind and body involved in bio-cultural practices of cinematic production, distribution, exhibition, and reception.

“Gao Xingjian ‘leng juchang’ zhong de kuaguo jingshen: dui Gao xingjian bufen juzuo de zhexue fenxi”. (Gao Xingjian’s cold theatre and the exploration of the spiritual: an analysis of Gao Xingjian’s theatre work)

“Gao Xingjian ‘leng juchang’ zhong de kuaguo jingshen: dui Gao xingjian bufen juzuo de zhexue fen... more “Gao Xingjian ‘leng juchang’ zhong de kuaguo jingshen: dui Gao xingjian bufen juzuo de zhexue fenxi”. (Gao Xingjian’s cold theatre and the exploration of the spiritual: an analysis of Gao Xingjian’s theatre work) Yang Liab (ed.) Xiaoyao ru niao: Gaoxingjian zuopin yanjiu –zuozhe .(Lianjing chubanshiye Gufen Youxian Gongsi, Taiwan, 2012)

Gao Xingjian’s Post-Exile Plays

Bloomsbury Publishing Plc eBooks, 2015

Awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2000, Gao Xingjian is the first Chinese writer to be so... more Awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2000, Gao Xingjian is the first Chinese writer to be so lauded for his prose and plays. Since relocating to France in 1987, in a voluntary exile from China, he has assembled a body of dramatic work that has best been understood neither as expressly Chinese nor French, but as transnational. In this comprehensive study of his post-exile plays, Mary Mazzilli explores Gao's plays as examples of postdramatic transnationalism: a transnational artistic and theatrical trend that is fluid, flexible and full of variety of styles and influences. As such this innovative interdisciplinary investigation offers fresh insights on contemporary theatre. Whereas other publications have considered Gao's work as a cultural and artistic phenomenon, Gao Xingjian's Post-Exile Plays: Transnationalism and Postdramatic Theatre is the first study to relate his plays to postdramatic theatre and to provide close textual and dramatic analysis that will help readers to better understand his complex work, and also to see it in the context of the work of contemporary playwrights such as Martin Crimp, Peter Handke, and Elfriede Jelinek. Among the plays discussed are: The Other Shore, written just before he left China in 1987; Between Life and Death (1991) - compared in detail to Martin Crimp's Attempts on her life; Dialogue and Rebuttal (1992), and its relationship to Beckett's Happy Days; Nocturnal Wanderer (1993), Weekend Quartet (1995), and the latest plays Snow in August (1997), Death Collector (2000) and Ballade Nocturne (2010).

Transnational Neighbourhood and Theatrical Practices

Universitaire Pers Leuven eBooks, Nov 3, 2022

Transnational Neighbourhood and Theatrical Practices

Universitaire Pers Leuven eBooks, Nov 3, 2022

Bright Azzurro Sea a short film/digital play premiered at the Mercury Online Festival August 2020

Bright Azzuro Sea is a short digital play written and created in response to Covid-19 lockdown, p... more Bright Azzuro Sea is a short digital play written and created in response to Covid-19 lockdown, providing a glimpse in the lives of an Italian mother and her three daughters, who live in the UK. The three daughters, who are all in different locations in UK, are talking over a digital interface and as usual there is a lot of bickering especially between the eldest and the youngest… The mother joins in. Her hair is wet, she has a bad sunburn and talks from her car, defying Italian total lockdown rules. The daughters are worried about her, but Maria-Teresa, the middle daughter has a secret of her own. With humour and a bit of drama, this play explores family relations during the lockdown, while touching upon themes of freedom, isolation, migration, and Italian diaspora. The sharp dialogues and the brief interludes of dramatic displays are entertaining as well as thought-provoking and invite for a collective reflection on the resilience and the challenges presented by the current pandem...

Gao Xingjian vs. Martin Crimp in between modernism and postmodernism

This thesis deals with the plays by Gao Xingjian- a Chinese contemporary playwright and Nobel Pri... more This thesis deals with the plays by Gao Xingjian- a Chinese contemporary playwright and Nobel Prize winner for literature in 2000- and Martin Crimp a contemporary English playwright. The plays from both authors will be looked at from a comparative perspective within the theoretical framework linked to the debate between modernism and postmodernism, as inspired by Calinescu's theory. Calinescu's theory is based on the idea that Postmodernism is a 'face of modernism': he speaks about recurrent aspects ('similarities') of Modernism in Postmodernism, not only in terms of the repetition of patterns from the past in the present culture, but in terms of a natural historical evolution of Modernism into new cultural forms. The aim of this thesis is, therefore, to prove Calinescu's idea of continuity between Modernism and Postmodernism through the work by the two playwrights and by doing this it inevitably demonstrates a link between two writers coming from two dif...

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Defining Cold Theatre

Exophony, Translation, and Transnationalism in Gao Xingjian’s French/Chinese Plays

Gao Xingjian’s Search for a Scenic Dramaturgy and Cinematic Language in Song of the Night

Defining Cold Theatre

Race, Occidentalism/Orientalism and Sino-centrism in Contemporary Chinese Theatre

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Intercultural and Cross-cultural Encounters during the Quatercentenary of Tang Xianzu and Shakespeare

Asian Theatre Journal, 2019

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The China Quarterly, Jun 1, 2009

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Gender in Gao Xingjian's Between Life and Death: The Notion of Originary Self and the Use of Tripartition

Frontiers of Literary Studies in China, Oct 23, 2015

The Columbia Anthology of Modern Chinese Drama. Edited and with an introduction by Xiaomei Chen. New York: Columbia University Press, 2010. x + 1105 pp. $95.00; £65.50. ISBN 978-0-231-14570-1

The China Quarterly, Jun 1, 2011

East-Asian Cinema 1900 to present days

SAGE Publications eBooks, 2012

“Theoretical studies of China: Comparative literature, the debate on postmodernism in China and the quest for a ‘transnational’ intellectual.”

Gao Xingjian’s Post-Exile Plays: Transnationalism and Postdramatic Theatre

Download

Gao Xingjian vs. Martin Crimp in between modernism and postmodernism

Download

Desiring the Bodies of Ruan Lingyu and Linda Lin Dai

Gao Xingjian’s Post-Exile Plays

Bloomsbury Publishing Plc eBooks, 2015

Transnational Neighbourhood and Theatrical Practices

Universitaire Pers Leuven eBooks, Nov 3, 2022

Transnational Neighbourhood and Theatrical Practices

Universitaire Pers Leuven eBooks, Nov 3, 2022

Bright Azzurro Sea a short film/digital play premiered at the Mercury Online Festival August 2020

Gao Xingjian vs. Martin Crimp in between modernism and postmodernism

Download

Defining Cold Theatre

Alexa Alice Joubin, ed. Asian Theatre Journal special section "Tang Xianzu and William Shakespeare, Quatercentenary Celebration" 36.2 (Fall 2019): 275-348

by Alexa Alice Joubin, Mary Mazzilli, and Letizia Fusini

Asian Theatre Journal, 2019

Cultural memory is actively constructed through embodied and political performances. Tang Xianzu ... more Cultural memory is actively constructed through embodied and political performances. Tang Xianzu and William Shakespeare, two “national poets” of unequal global stature, have recently become vehicles for British and Chinese cultural diplomacy and exchange during their quatercentenary in 2016. The culture of commemoration is a key factor in Tang’s and Shakespeare’s positions within world theatre. Performances of commemoration take a wide range of approaches from grass-root events to government-sponsored festivals. With a comparative scope that explores the afterlives of the two dramatists, this cluster of essays examines commemorative practices, the dynamics of artistic fame, comparability of different dramatic traditions, and transformations of performance styles in socio-historical contexts.

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Transnational Chinese Cinema: Corporeality, Desire, and the Ethics of Failure

by Mary Mazzilli and Brian Bergen-Aurand

This collection of original essays on transnational Chinese cinema examines the corporal, psychol... more This collection of original essays on transnational Chinese cinema examines the corporal, psychological, and affective aspects of experiencing bodies on screen. In effect this book contributes to the intersection of two growing scholarly fields: modern China studies and cinema studies. It is however the growing interdisciplinary study of how bodies get represented, interpreted, and queried that gives this volume its unique and timely focus. Taking Chinese cinematic moments as its exemplary objects, this book engages fruitfully with the material and discursive elements of embodiment. And it interrogates the dynamics between the mind and body involved in bio-cultural practices of cinematic production, distribution, exhibition, and reception.

Gao Xingjian’s Post-Exile Plays Transnationalism and Postdramatic Theatre

Awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2000, Gao Xingjian is the first Chinese writer to be so... more Awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2000, Gao Xingjian is the first Chinese writer to be so lauded for his prose and plays. Since relocating to France in 1987, in a voluntary exile from China, he has assembled a body of dramatic work that has best been understood neither as expressly Chinese nor French, but as transnational.

In this comprehensive study of his post-exile plays, Mary Mazzilli explores Gao's plays as examples of postdramatic transnationalism: a transnational artistic and theatrical trend that is fluid, flexible and full of variety of styles and influences. As such this innovative interdisciplinary investigation offers fresh insights on contemporary theatre.

Whereas other publications have considered Gao's work as a cultural and artistic phenomenon, Gao Xingjian's Post-Exile Plays: Transnationalism and Postdramatic Theatre is the first study to relate his plays to postdramatic theatre and to provide close textual and dramatic analysis that will help readers to better understand his complex work, and also to see it in the context of the work of contemporary playwrights such as Martin Crimp, Peter Handke, and Elfriede Jelinek.
- See more at: http://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/gao-xingjians-post-exile-plays-9781472591623/#sthash.OKCfE5Sa.dpuf

Review of my monograph on Modern Drama

Mary Mazzilli

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