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Translating Peking opera for the Anglophone stage Hong Li (20183) PUREID: 576117673 Peking Opera xiqu translation and performance translation approaches translating aesthetics translation process collaboration contingency stage-audience complicity dramaturgical acts interweaving cultures in performance practice-as-research performability performativity In any discussion of the translation and exchange of traditional Chinese theatre (<i>xiqu</i> in Chinese), Peking Opera (<i>jingju</i>) in particular, the focus should not only be on its literary value but also on the power of its form in performance. The intricacies of the <i>xiqu</i> form and its different conception of theatre-making engender many difficulties for both the production and reception of the translated <i>xiqu</i> plays in non-Chinese contexts. In great part, of course, this is because the theatre translator’s decisions are largely conditioned by the contingency of production and reception in a specific context, so that the stage-worthiness of a translated <i>xiqu</i> play is tested and realised through the collaborative work of the translator and the target non-Chinese production team in order to ensure a meaningful audience experience. The stage translators and production teams constantly negotiate between loss and gain in the process of re-creating the theatrical and aesthetic impacts of the original <i>xiqu</i> forms in the target performance. These issues of <i>xiqu</i> translation for performance require a practice-based research design for us to fully examine these translation approaches and production collaboration. This thesis consists of three parts in terms of design: a contextual examination of the form of Peking Opera (and some other <i>xiqu</i> forms), and discussion of intercultural encounter and exchange in two recent translations and one related staging of this form (with the second case being my own practice-as-research study).<br><br><i>Thesis is embargoed until 31 July 2029</i>.<br><br> 2026-10-01T16:40:58Z Text Thesis 10.17034/32639301.v1 https://figshare.com/articles/thesis/Translating_Peking_opera_for_the_Anglophone_stage/32639301 All Rights Reserved Open Access after 2029-07-31