This interview is with Xiaomei Chen, Distinguished Professor Emerita of Chinese Literature and Culture. She was appointed in 2003 and retired in 2021.
Xiaomei’s research interests include Chinese literature, theater, film, and performance studies. Her teaching interests include Modern Chinese Literature, Chinese Film, Chinese Drama and Performance, Popular culture of modern China, Propaganda Studies, Comparative Literature and Global Studies.
She served as Chair of the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures from Spanish and Portuguese from 1993 to 1997 and as Chair of Performance Studies Graduate Group from 2014 to 2015. She was Founding President of American Association of Chinese and Comparative Studies (1984-1986).
She has published influence books such as Occidentalism, Acting the Right Part, Staging The Chinese Revolution, and Performing the Socialist State and pioneered modern Chinese performance studies of the People’s Republic of China in the English-speaking world.
She is interviewed by her friend and colleague, Michael Foster, Professor of Japanese Literature and Culture.