Xiangsheng and the Emergence of Guo Degang in Contemporary China

Download or read book Xiangsheng and the Emergence of Guo Degang in Contemporary China written by Shenshen Cai and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2020-10-17 with total page 146 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book explores xiangsheng, one of the most popular folk art performance genres in China, its enlistment by official propaganda machine after the founding of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and its revival in popularity under Guo Degang and his Deyun Club. Just as the 1950's saw the shift of xiangsheng 's social function from entertainment to the political tool of ‘serving the party’, Guo Degang has completed the paradigm shift by turning its focus back to ‘serving the people’ as a means of entertainment and social criticism. This volume examines how Guo has resurrected the essence of xiangsheng, successfully commercialised it in a market economy, and simultaneously deconstructed the official discourse through grassroots means.