Reflexivity in the Humor of Xiangsheng
- Reflexivity in the Humor of Xiangsheng*
Footnotes
* Thanks to Kenneth DeWorskin and William Baxter at the University of Michigan for their advice and guidance during the writing of my Maser’s thesis on xiangsheng, from which most of the ideas in this paper were drawn. A special thanks to Perry Link for much helpful correspondence and several conversations. Prof. Link also introduced me to Wu Xiaoling 昊 晓 铃, who proved to be a gold mine of anecdotal material which I have not yet had a chance to mine. Catherine Stevens fought off the effects of jet lag one morning in Beijing to talk to me, and I appreciate her help and advice. Thanks to quyi scholar Wang Jingshou 王 景 寿 for a delightful and informative conversation about traditional xiàngsh-eng. I’m indebted to Yan Yong 严勇 and Liu Haoming 刘 浩 明 at Peking University for some much-needed help in the transcription of several pieces. Also thanks to Susan Blader for providing me with some additional contacts and material.
1. Perry Link, “The Genie and the Lamp: Revolutionary Xiangsheng,” in Bonnie McDougall (ed.), Popular Chinese Literature and Performing Arts in the People’s Republic of China, 1949–1979. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1984, p. 83.
2. There are also two other forms: dankou 单口, which involves only one performer, and qunkou 群口, which usually includes three performers, but can include more. These forms are much less common than the two-person variety.
3. There is an excellent English introduction to xiangsheng by Shuying Tsau 崔阪亷 entitled “Xiangsheng and Its Star Performer Hou Baolın” in Chinoperl Papers, no. 9, 1979–1980, p. 47. My Chinese sources include: (1) Xue Baokun,薛宝琨 Zhongguo de Xiangsheng 冲国的相声 (Beijing: Renmìn Chubanshe 北京:人民出版社, 1985).(2) Hou Baolin, Xue Baokun 侯宝林 薛宝相, et al. eds., Xiangsheng Yìshu Lue Ji 相声艺 禾仑集 (Harbin: Heilong Jiang Renmìn Chubanshe 哈尔滨:黑龙江人民出版社 1981). (3) jí Yuan 纪元 ed., Xiangsheng Xiezuo Zhishi 相声写祚知识 (Shenyang: Chunfeng Wenyi Chubanshe 沈阳: 春风文艺出版社). I have written a master’s thesis on the subject, which is available from the University of Michigan’s Center for Chinese Studies.
4. The terms “joke cracker” and “joke setter” are Perry Link’s translations.
5. Ren Bantang ---------, Tang Xi Nong 唐艺弄 (Beijing: Zuojia Chubanshe 北京: 作家出版社, 1958), pp. 275–353.
6. One of the artists who performed most for Mao was Hóu Baolín. See Hou Baolin, “Mao Zedong Tongzhi Xihuan Ting Xiangsheng” 毛泽东同志喜邈听相声, in Quyi 曲艺, July 1982, pp. 11–12. Also Perry Link, “Hou Baolin: An Appreciation,” p. 93.
7. See, for example,. Lao She Xiangsheng he Xiangsheng Yìshu 老舍先生和相声艺术 in Xiangsheng Yìshu Lun Ji, op. cit., p. 47. Also see David Moser, “Lao She and Xiangsheng” in Spring and Autumn Annals, Center for Chinese Centers publication, University of Michigan, forthcoming.
8. See Jan W. Walls: “The Bamboo Clapper Tale” in CHINOPERL papers No. 7 (1977).
9. Zhang Jianping 张剑平, “Yinggai bu Yinggai” “应该不应该,” 1986 Quanguo Quyi Xin Qu (Shu) Mu Bisai Huo Jiang Zuopin Ji 全国曲艺新曲 (书)目比赛获奖作品 集. (Beijing: Zhongguo Quyi Chubanshe北京:中国曲艺出版枕, 1988), p. 136.
10. Erving Goffman’s term. See Erving Goffman, Frame Analysis, New York: Harper and Row, 1974. Goffman has written extensively on all the various types of theatrical framing devices and their function. For purposes of this paper I have borrowed some of his terminology and a few of the key ideas in Frame Analysis.
11. Hou Baolin, Wang Jingshou, Xue Baokun 侯宝林, 汪景, 薛宝琨 (eds.), Quyi Gailun 曲艺概论 (Beijing: Beijing Daxue Chubanshe 北京: 北京大学出版社, 1980), p. 9.
12. Ibid., p. 181.
13. Goffman, op. cit., p. 226.
14. Hou Yuewen, Shi Fukuan, “Tangcu Huo Yu” “塘醋活鱼” (tape, China Record Company 中国唱片厂 YD-60, 1986).
15. Hao Aimin, Ge Quanbao, 郝爱民, 戈权保, “Liyi Zatan” “礼仪杂谈” (Tape. No recording information available.)
16. Lai Shengchuan 如赖声川, “Nei Yi Ye Women Shuo Xiangsheng” “那一夜我们说 相尹”, Part One, “Kai Chang Bai” 开场白, (xiangsheng piece on cassette tape, no other recording information available). These pieces exist in published form: see Lai Shengchuan, “Nei Yi Ye Women Shuo Xiangsheng” “那一夜我们说相声” (Taibei: Sanwen Yínshuguan Youxian Gongsi 台北: 三文印书馆有限公司, 1987). This work, which has enjoyed great popularity in Taiwan, is actually a series of pieces performed one after another, and a recurring theme of the opus is xiangsheng itself, specifically its revival as an art form in Taiwan. The work is filled with examples of frame-breaking and self-reference of all...
