GRADUATE STUDENT COLLOQUIUM
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Past Events
Graduate Student Colloquium:: Wednesday 10/31/2006 : 4:00 6:00 p.m.
Lori Barcliff Baptista, Performance Studies: "EATING OUT: RESTAURANT & CAF CULTURE"
Hsiao-mei Hsieh, Performance Studies: "Two Versions of Shao Jianghai: Politics of Theatre Historiography in China"
BCICS Building, 1902 Sheridan Road
Dinner will be served
ABSTRACT: EATING OUT: RESTAURANT & CAF CULTURE
The restaurant, as we think of and experience it today, is a modern, urban phenomenon with multiple, contested genealogies. As a dynamic cultural institution, the restaurant evolved out of social, political and economic conditions that concentrated people, money and commercial activity in urban hubs. There are close to 200 thriving restaurants and cafs within the space of the densely populated and industrially zoned four square miles that comprise Newark, New Jerseys Ironbound neighborhood. Just ten minutes from Manhattan, the Ironbounds exceptionally prosperous restaurant industry benefits directly from its geographic location, the transportation infrastructure that bounds the neighborhood, local businesses, longtime patrons, tourists, and the food rituals of immigrant residents. In this chapter, I critically assess how innovative restaurateurs have capitalized on these auspicious circumstances to successfully adapt regional Spanish, Portuguese and Brazilian foodways into fruitful entrepreneurial ventures.
Perched at the intersection of public and private life, restaurants are also performative sites of consumption, display and spectacle. Ironbound restaurants are especially well known for their sensorily engaging and welcoming atmosphere, consistent levels of service and quality, oversized servings, and affordably priced ethnic menu items. I demonstrate how Ironbound restaurateurs have institutionalized a spectacular dining style, signaled by sometimes extravagant re-presentations of Spain, Portugal and Brazil, extremely large portions, low prices, friendly, courteous service and food with tastes all its own. In my analysis, I consider how the politics and poetics of display and fluctuating social, political and economic conditions impact restaurateurs efforts to maintain a standard of service that is flexible enough to accommodate changing tastes.
ABSTRACT: Two Versions of Shao Jianghai: Politics of Theatre Historiography in China
Unlike other traditional performance genres that were brought to the island by its Chinese immigrants, Gezaixi (also known as the Taiwanese opera) is purely and proudly made in Taiwan. With its popularity, Gezaixi made its way across the Taiwan Strait to southeastern China in the late 1910s, and gradually drew local audiences.
The play Shao Jianghai, produced by Xiamen Gezaixi Troupe in the PRC, has undergone several major modifications since its debut in 2002. The play tells the story of the early life of the Gezaixi master SHAO Jianghai (1914-1980), and how he created the new tune zasuidiao, which later on influenced the music of Gezaixi, during the period of the second Sino-Japanese war. The play won several honors on the mainland following its debut. The paper focuses on the changes in its narrative from the 2002/3 version to the 2005 version. The two versions, with seemingly similar stories, convey drastically different messages. By comparing the narrative and presentation of the two versions, I intend to examine the politics of Gezaixi theater historiography in China at a time when the dispute over Taiwanese independence or reunification dominates cross-strait interactions.
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