Liu Institute Faculty Fellow Tarryn Chun, assistant professor in the Department of Film, Television, and Theatre and Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures, has authored a new monograph titled "Revolutionary Stagecraft: Theater, Technology, and Politics in Modern China." Published by the University of Michigan Press, the book reveals the deep entanglement of technological modernization, political agendas, and the performing arts in modern China. This unique approach to Chinese theater history combines a close look at plays themselves, performance practices, technical theater details, and behind-the-scenes debates over “how to” make theater amid the political upheavals of China between the 1920s to 1980s.
Professor Chun workshopped at least one of the book's chapters at sessions of the Liu Institute's Modern Chinese Literature and Culture Working Group. In 2023, the group evolved into the Chinese Working Group, broadening its scope to foster a dynamic intellectual community dedicated to interdisciplinary research and education on China.
The College of Arts and Letters delves deeper into Chun's research in the feature and video "Theatre scholar shines spotlight on China’s entanglement of technology, political agendas, and performing arts."