M. Butterfly : Poststructuralist Approaches (2)

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M. Butterfly Poststructuralist Approaches (2)

1. Postmodernism Poststructuralism QA
2. M. Butterfly Discourses Subject Positions (M.
   Foucault)
3. M. Butterfly Deconstruction
4. Assignments

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Postmodernism Q A

• Do you think that our society with its fast
  processing of images and news is symptomatic of
  depthlessness?
• What is hyperspace? Is Living Mall a kind of
  hyperspace? Do you feel lost in it?
• How does Jameson characterize explain
  postmodernism? How is postmodernism related to
  poststructuralism?

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Post-Structuralism Defined

• A theoretic grounding and explanation of
  postmodern society and postmodernism.
• An anti-foundationalist mode of thinking
  prevalent in the second half of the 20th c.
  Turns structure into structuration, or
  différence.
• Foundations
• Reality Representation
• Man Subject
• Truth History God, . . ., any kind of
  Totalization and Center. Différance
  Discourse

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Poststructuralist critiques of foundations

• Representation
• (wk 1) Re-presentation or realistic
  presentation is impossible. metafiction
• (next wk) Meanings of a text cannot be fixed
  must be un-decidable or multiple.
  Deconstruction
• (today) Textualization of Knowledge, Subject and
  Society e.g. Foucault
• Truth is provisional.
• Subjects are fragmentary.
• Society is a network of discourses.

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M. Butterfly Possible Poststructuralist
Approaches

• representation identity Its use of
  meta-theatrical devices to present how gender and
  racial identities are constructed.
• Parody of Madame Butterfly by exposing the play
  of power in the characters role play.
• Subject Positions Competing Discourses.
• (Foucault Orientalism)

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Identity Construction Roles Clothes Identity?

• Costume change on the stage 9, 14 (Marc), 86-87
• Renee We fight wars because we wear clothes.
  P. 55 ? We assume different positions of power.
• Undressing Gallimard not undressing Song. 60
• -- Is there truth underneath clothes? Or is
  clothing a part of identity? -- Does Gallimard
  turns to love Song at the end of Scene 6. Whats
  the something new, something unnatural, . . .
  Something very close to love?

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From Language to Discourse M. Foucault

• 1) Truth is provisional constructed within a
  certain discourse, or regime of truth. e.g.
  Orientalism
• 2) Subjects are fragmentary (positions).
• 3) Society is a network of discourses.
• (Our course Language Forms Race)

discourse
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Elements of a Discourse (1)

• P. 26 27
• Values Rules about the sayable and
  thinkable the good and the bad
• Authority of knowledge, and exclusion of other
  statements
• Practices within institutions in their historical
  circumstances

• Orientalism a system of knowledge provided by
  some authorities (e.g. traveler)
• institutions Oriental Studies, publishers,
  government, import/export companies, etc.
• History changes of international relationship.
• e.g. Changing constructions of the Japanese.

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Elements of a Discourse (2) Subject Position

• p. 55 56
• Foucault
• 1). Hierarchy of Position
• 2). Other as a subject positions. (e.g.
  Butterfly)

• Orientalism
• experts in-betweeners the exotic
• The West as Man, Savior
• The Orient as Woman and backward/wicked

(Note two ideas of subject 1. Conscious
autonomous subject 2. Subject to someone elses
control. )
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Discourse Theory Application to M. Butterfly

• 1. M. Butterfly changes history to make itself a
  critique of Oriental Woman.
• 2. M. in a network of discourses
• Private competing discourses.
• Public Colonial and communist discourses in
  context
• Public related discourses

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M. Butterfly critique of the discourse of
Orientalism

• A. Transformation of a historical event into a
  parody of Madame Butterfly, which is part of the
  discourse of Oriental Woman.
• 1) History of Bernard Bouriscot and Shi Peipu
  differences from M. Butterfly (source 20/20)
• -- Six months after their friendship, Shi Peipu
  said he was not the man he appeared to be, but
  was a woman in disguise as a man.
• ? M. Butterfly the tradition of Chinese opera.
• -- BB no previous sexual experience ?
• M. Butterfly relates his desire to male
  voyeurism

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Turning History into a critique of Oriental Woman
(2)

• -- BB more active stayed in China twice left
  China in 1966, went back four years later to
  search for Shi and their son.
• -- BB more implicated in China because he was
  obsessed with being able to continue to see
  Peipu, Bernard began smuggling secret documents
  out of the French embassy and bringing them to
  the two Communist Party officials. (in China)
  less power play among the French
• ? M. Butterfly --Butterflys return to the
  empire -- historical junctures Cultural
  revolution ? Vietnam war ? May Revolution in 1968
  France

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Turning History into a critique of Oriental Woman
(3)

• -- After B. is summoned back to France, he had
  affairs with women, but he also realized he was
  sexually attracted to men.
• ? M. Butterfly G concentrates on his ideal
  woman.
• -- 1982, Shi visited Paris with his son.
• -- 1986 caught because of their spy acts.

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Competing Versions of Fiction

• Song ironic overtones pp. 30 41 51 63
• 3) Songs intrusion pp. 47(scene 4) 63 (Scene
  7),67, 78-79

G as an author
4) Final switching of roles
Song -- theatre of China 85 -- stripping to
take another role -- a man, and not just a
man. -- your fantasy -- Butterfly?
Butterfly?

• G I am a man who love a woman created by a man.

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Competing Fictions outside the play

• BERNARD BOURSICOT And instead of beating him, I
  told, But I want to see. And he told, Oh, it
  does not matter, no problem. And he took his
  pants down and he told me, You can see. And a
  week after, I wanted to die, because I was
  thinking, Okay, now I am not only a prisoner,
  not only a spy, but a foolish person.
• B . . . there is the theory that you were
  homosexual all those years ago, but couldn't face
  it, and so you allowed yourself to be deceived.
  How do you answer that?
• BERNARD BOURSICOT It is possible, but it's not
  the sole explanation.

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Competing Fictions (5) Ps version

• BARBARA WALTERS Just a friend?
• SHI PEIPU (through interpreter) Of course.
• BARBARA WALTERS Nothing more?
• SHI PEIPU (through interpreter) Yes, but there
  is no use talking about it. It's over. It's
  over.
• BARBARA WALTERS How did you meet Monsieur
  Boursicot?
• SHI PEIPU (through interpreter) I have
  forgotten, and besides, I don't speak about him
  anymore.
• BARBARA WALTERS Did you ever tell Monsieur
  Boursicot that you were a woman?
• SHI PEIPU (through interpreter) He said that?
  I don't think so. I'm not crazy like that.

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Setting Orientalism in Context
Authorities/God in Politics Challenged

• The storyset in 1960-1970 in Beijin
• 1966 - (1968)-- 1986 in Paris
• Why? Connecting sexual politics to
• (Inter-)national politics ? time of wars
  revolutions
• Traces of public history in M. Butterfly
• -- the play of power between Toulon and Gallimard
  (Toulon being the God?transcendental
  signifier)
• -- e.g. changes of power of Comrade Chin Song
  as an artist Scene 10 11 (Chairman Mao)

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Official history Colonizers and Asia

• Historical Background ? the subversion of several
  authorities
• -- Cultural revolution -- 1966-1976 fixed roles
• -- Vietnam War
• History 1860 French colonization started,
  followed by Japan during WWII
• After WWII 1955 France fought hard to regain
  their former territories without success.
• 1954-- the country divided into North and South

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History and Fiction Official history

• 1955 -- the U.S.s involvement
• 1961-- support forces arriving since then,
• Nov. 1963-- President Diem overthrown and
  executed.
• 1965 -- US intense bombing started,
• 1969 -- USs withdrawal started,
• 1973 total withdrawal
• May 1975 -- the fall of Saigon.
• France May 68 France's month of revolution --
  a week of clashes there between extreme right
  wing groups and students campaigning against the
  Vietnam War. (More strikes and demonstration
  followed)

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Related Discourses of Orientalism

• Society is a network of discourses

• Reality
• interracial marriages between white men and
  non-white women

• Discourse 1 (e.g. Suzie Wong, Pocahontas in
  Hollywood films and fictions)
• White men promises of freedom of choice
  progress and material prosperity Women
  Cinderella-like transformation into American
  (Marchetti 117)

White knight in romantic love Romantic love
spiritual transcendence, against social
stigma. The male lover worthy of womans
submission and self-sacrifice. (Marchetti 110)
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Deconstruction

• Binaries Subverted or Made Undecidable
• 1) self Dress/Body/Mind,
• 2) Reality/Fantasy, 3) Communism/Capitalism,
• 4) Male/Female (Madame/Monsieur), East/West,
  Cunning Wicked Asian (Fu Man Chou or Dragon
  Lady)/Submissive Woman (China Doll)
• Only subverted? Do we still have the
  stereotypes of Asian as cunning and
  manipulative, and West as idealistic, trusting
  and misinformed?
• the final un-decidable M

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Deconstruction

• Hwang wants to create a deconstructivist Madame
  Butterfly.
• Butterfly as a floating sign, to be possessed in
  different ways by Gallimard and Song.
• Binaries White man Oriental Woman
• Gallimard Song
• Gallimard Song ?
• Gallimard/Butterfly
  Song/Butterfly
• I am a man who love a woman created by a man.
• Creating his own love object ? becoming his own
  object.

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Reference

• THE STRANGEST LOVE STORY OF ALL - THE REAL M
  BUTTERFLY. Program script. ABCs 20/20,
  segment 02. Anchor Barbara Walters. Date Aug
  12, 1994.
• Marchetti, Gina. Romance and the Yellow Peril
  Race, Sex, and Discursive Strategies in Hollywood
  Fiction (U of California P, 1993)

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Assignments

• Poststructuralism (1) Deconstruction
• Postmodern Taiwanese poems ????????(p. 125?
  and/or ????