US Theatre and Cosmopolitics: Imperfect Reimagining of US–Asia Relations on Stage Since 1945

Author

Kyungjin Jo, The Graduate Center, City University of New YorkFollow

Date of Degree

6-2024

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Program

Theatre and Performance

Advisor

Peter Eckersall

Committee Members

David Savran

James Wilson

Subject Categories

American Studies | Asian American Studies | Dramatic Literature, Criticism and Theory | East Asian Languages and Societies | Theatre History

Keywords

US theatre, Asia, US–Asia relations, Cosmopolitanism, Pax Americana

Abstract

This research explores how postwar US theatre portrays US-Asia relations, analyzing its role in performing cosmopolitics. My analysis covers various theatrical forms—plays, musicals, experimental performances, political vaudeville, and operas—from the mid-twentieth century to the early twenty-first century. These works deal with themes such as war, postwar occupation, trade conflict, diplomatic summits, and soft power contests, all crucial in defining the geopolitical and international dynamics between the United States and Asian countries. My study investigates two main aspects. First, I study how these theatrical works reflect on and critique US dominance in Asia, questioning the notion of Pax Americana, American exceptionalism, and White supremacy. Second, I explore how they depict Asia as a space of cross-cultural, cross-national, and cross-racial encounters and engagement, promoting a cosmopolitan ethics and politics of openness, compassion, and solidarity, envisioning more equitable US-Asia relations. Using cosmopolitanism as a theoretical lens, I explore how these works encourage the audience to think and feel beyond the United States’ perspective, reimagining US-Asia relations often through imagined Asian perspectives, cultures, and aesthetics. This study covers a diverse array of cosmopolitan and cosmopolitical imaginations that arise from four historical periods and contexts: the early postwar era, the Vietnam War era, the late Cold War era, and the rise of East Asia in the twenty-first century.

My case studies uncover a paradoxical spectrum in US theatre that portrays US-Asia relations: from a benignly Orientalist depiction that endorses US expansion to a radical decolonial vision that contests US imperialism. Moreover, despite the intent to promote cross-racial, cross-national, and cross-cultural encounters and connections with Asia, these theatrical works often inadvertently sustain the very hierarchies, exclusion, and marginalization they aim to abolish, thus often preserving the unequal US-Asia power dynamics they seek to challenge. This contradiction highlights the paradoxical nature of cosmopolitics, which seeks to be progressive and decolonial yet is compromised by its US-centered and privileged viewpoint. These contradictions emphasize the necessity for a more nuanced engagement with Asia, moving beyond using it merely as a means for American self-reflection and self-refashioning. Recognizing this paradox is crucial to achieving a more just and balanced depiction and interaction with Asia in US theatre.

This research claims that US theatre is a crucial space for exploring the complex dimensions of US–Asia relations—geopolitical, cultural, aesthetic, private, and emotional—shaping how the US audience perceives Asia. This research complicates existing US theatre scholarship, which has mostly seen the US theatre’s portrayal of US–Asia relations as a cultural expression that reinforces US dominance over Asia. This research also contributes to cosmopolitanism studies by showing US theatre as a dynamic space for engaging with historically specific, particular, diverse, and paradoxical US cosmopolitics.

Recommended Citation

Jo, Kyungjin, "US Theatre and Cosmopolitics: Imperfect Reimagining of US–Asia Relations on Stage Since 1945" (2024). CUNY Academic Works.
https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/5820