Performing Chineseness Overseas

Abstract

This article analyzes how the photographs of overseas Chinese performing Peking opera projected the Chinese nationalism of the Kuomintang (KMT) across Taiwan (the Republic of China, ROC) and the Philippines during the Cold War. The analysis focuses on images in the periodical Drama and Art (1964–1972), examining theater and photography as mediums that worked together to (re)shape a ROC-approved vision of “Chineseness.” In addition to studying the circulation of these photographs, the discussion further looks into those aspects of the performances rendered invisible by the periodical, explicating how the Chineseness of overseas Chinese was produced and performed based on the KMT’s needs. Peking opera performance also functioned as a form of “emotional compensation” for Chinese-Filipino performers to act out fantasies of power while facing anti-Chinese sentiment in the Philippines. This article therefore argues that Peking opera was intricately linked to the conceptual construction of overseas Chineseness and its embodied practice.