Transnationalism and everyday practice: Cantonese opera theatres of North America in the 1920s

Abstract

ABSTRACTIn the United States, Chinese theatres were prosperous in the 1920s, creating a vibrant Cantonese opera culture in several major cities. They staged performances daily, featuring stellar singers and elaborate productions. As cultural migration, operas played significant roles in Chinese communities, from entertainment to ritual worship, and from public face to daily practices. This article argues that the cultural space constituted an important part of Chinese American collective memory. The theatre space was complicatedly shaped by a list of players including the trans-Pacific network of merchants and performers, legal brokers, US Immigration officers at the port and in Washington, DC, as well as enthusiastic audiences and the social milieu. The theatres were subjected to many constraints and limited by them. By studying this cultural memory in its complicated layers, the article also explores the ways in which Chinese theatres and opera performances provide an important imaginary space for second-generation Chinese Americans.