Chinese drama (classical and modern), comparative drama, literary translation.
Shiao-ling Yu’s current research project is focused on Lao She's dramatic works. Modern Chinese drama (huaju) has been closely linked to the social and political conditions of the country ever since its introduction to China in the early twentieth century. Its use of spoken dialogue and realistic portrayal of life made it an ideal vehicle to promote social reforms, and to serve politics as Mao Zedong called for in his “Yan’an Talks on Literature and Art” (1942), which remains the official policy to this day. She examines the relationship between politics and theater by focusing on the dramatic works of Lao She (1899-1966), one of the most important modern Chinese writers. His twenty-two plays were written during a thirty-year period of cataclysmic changes in China, including the Japanese invasion, and shift of government from Nationalist to Communist. The plays illuminate the function of drama in contemporary Chinese society and how changing political climates affect the production and reception of dramatic works.
Publications
Book
Chinese Drama After the Cultural Revolution, 1979-1989: An Anthology. Lewiston, New York: Edwin Mellen Press, 1996, 494 pages. Winner of a National Endowment for the Arts Translation Fellowship.
Book Chapters
"The Bus Stop by Gao Xingjian." In The Columbia Anthology of Modern Chinese Drama. Ed. Xiaomei Chen. New York: Columbia UP. Abridged ed., 2014. 556-591. Original ed., 2010. 771-806.
"The Religious Activities and Beliefs of the American Indians." In Saishe yu yuehu lunji (Essays on Religious Festivals and Musician Families, papers presented at the international forum on Nuo culture). Beijing: Zhongguo xiju chubanshe (Chinese Drama Publishing House), 2007. vol. 2, 568-578.
"The Themes of Exile and Identity Crisis in Nieh Hua-ling's Fiction." In Nativism Overseas: Contemporary Chinese Women Writers. Ed. Hsin-sheng C. Kao. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1993. 127-156.
Articles
"The Orphan of Zhao: Chinese Revenge Drama and European Adaptations." Comparative Literature Studies. Vol 55, No.1 (2018): 144-171.
“Politics and Theater in the PRC: Fifty Years of Teahouse on the Chinese Stage.” Asian Theatre Journal 30.1 (spring, 2013): 90-121.
“Gender and Theater: Changing Images of Women on the Chinese Stage.” Chinese Literature Today, Vol. 1, No. 1 (Summer, 2010): 45-52.
"Cry to Heaven: A Play to Celebrate One Hundred Years of Chinese Spoken Drama." Asian Theatre Journal 25.1 (Spring, 2009): 1-53.
"To Revenge or Not to Revenge: Seven Hundred Years of the Transformations of The Orphan of Zhao." CHINOPERAL Papers, 26 (2006): 129-147.
"Sacrifice to the Mountain: A Ritual Performance of Qiang Minority People in China." TDR: T184 (Winter, 2004): 155-166.
"A Chinese Director's Theory of Performance: On Jiao Juyin's System of Directing." Asian Theatre Journal 20.1 (Spring, 2003): 25-43.
"Pan Jillian: A new Sichuan Opera." Asian Theatre Journal 10.1 (Spring, 1993): 5-46.
See Google Scholar Citation below for a complete list of publications.
https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=81iz2pEAAAAJ&hl=en&citsig=AMD79orOYgJGAlzC1pBIHmXcHUJrkFZbCg
Conference Presentations
“From Uncle Tom’s Cabin to Modern Chinese Drama,” presented at the Association for Asian Studies Annual Conference, Seattle, March 14-17, 2024.
“Humor and Satire in Contemporary Chinese Drama: A study of the Peking Opera Xu Jiujing’s Promotion,” Modern Language Association of Amerca (MLA) Annual Convention, San Francisco, January 5-8, 2023.
"Chinese Heritage and European Adaptations: The Orphan of Zhao as Intercultural Theater," AAS-in-Asia Conference, Singapore, 17-19 July 2014.
“The Chinese Communist Revolution Reexamined: A Recent Play about Li Dazhao,” ICAS 8, Macao, P. R. China, 24-27 June 2013. ICAS= International Convention of Asian Scholars
"Putting New Wine in Old Bottles: Lao She’s Adaptation of Folk Drama,” Association for Asian Performance Annual Conference, Washington DC, 1-2 August 2012.
"Politics and Theater in 20th Century China: A Study of Lao She's Dramatic Works," The Center for the Humanities, Oregon State University, May 2012.
International Collaborations
Sponsored a visiting scholar, Professor. Shaodi Wang from Shanghai International Studies University, to conduct joint research on a comparative study of three modern Chinese and American writers, 2015-2016.
Sponsored a visiting scholar, Professor Sanyi Xu of Toyo University, Tokyo, to conduct
joint research on comparative linguistics and pedagogy, 2012- 2013.
Sponsored a visiting scholar, Prof. Hyun-guk Hwang of Dankook University, South Korea, to conduct joint research on modern Chinese literature in Taiwan 2009- 2010.
OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY
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