This volume focuses on the theatre history of Asian countries and discusses the specific
context of theatre modernization in Asia. While Asian theatre is one of the primary interests
within theatre scholarship in the world today knowledge of Asian theatre history is very
limited and often surprisingly incorrect. Therefore this volume addresses a major gap in
contemporary theatre studies.The volume discusses the conflict between tradition and modernity
in theatre suggesting that the problems of modernity are closely related to the idea of
tradition. Although Asian countries preserved the traditional form and values of their
respective theatres they had to also confront the newly introduced values or mechanisms of
European modernity. Several papers in this volume therefore provide critical surveys of the
history of theatre modernization in Asian countries or regions-Japan Korea Taiwan Hong Kong
India Malaysia Singapore and Uyghur. Other papers focus on specific case studies of the
history of modernization discussing contemporary Taiwanese performances translations of
modern French comedy into Chinese the modernization of Chinese Xiqu modern Okinawan plays
Malaysian traditional performances Korean national theatre and Japanese plays during World
War II.Renowned academics and theatre critics have contributed to this volume making it a
valuable resource for researchers and students of theatre studies literature and cultural
studies.
