Art becomes life: Theater and the politics of repression in Shangai, 1927-1945

Modern Chinese spoken drama did not emerge in China until the early 20th Century, but by 1927 it had already become a feared propaganda weapon of the Communist Party and thus became a target of censorship by Chiang Kaishek's Guomindang, foreign imperialists and, later, Japanese occupiers. This study argues that the leftists' effective use of both modern and folk theater forms played a key role in converting urban workers, intellectuals, and the rural peasantry to the leftist cause. Further, the commandeering of theater for political ends was part of a centuries-old tradition of using the myths and icons of popular culture in rebellions against delegitimized authority. Chiang Kaishek, unlike Mao, never accepted the importance of these myths nor the importance of film and theater in transmitting them. The study combines methodologies from history, anthropology, politics and literature to produce a work useful to each of these disciplines.