K. C. Schoenberger, "Aesthetic Contributions of Music in Late Imperial Chinese Drama"

The Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies at Harvard University presents an afternoon with Kevin C. (Casey) Schoenberger on late imperial Chinese drama.

An overlooked aspect of the intended aesthetic effects of late imperial Chinese drama is the contribution of playwrights' musical choices with respect to such factors as aria suite arrangement, mode-key, and the interface of prosody and rhythm. Casey Schoenberger will argue that musical choices in early modern drama were not mere pro forma generic strictures, but rather a vecator of creativity, and that much of the artistry can be appreciated to this day. Schoenberger will approach his broad work-in-progress by describing a few examples of this artistry in the work of late-Ming dramatists Xu Wei (1521-1593) and Wang Jide (1542?-1623).

Kevin C. (Casey) Schoenberger, Jr., obtained his PhD in pre-modern Chinese literature from Yale University in spring of 2013. His dissertation, "Resonant Readings: Musicality in Early Modern Chinese Adaptations of Traditional Poetic Forms," explores the contribution of musical choices to late imperial literary drama through consideration of the ways in which sixteenth-century poets and dramatists adapted much older lyrical forms to suit their own purposes. At Harvard, Schoenberger plans to edit the dissertation for future publication, and also to begin work on annotated translations of important works of late imperial musical and poetic theory. In addition to late imperial Chinese drama, Schoenberger’s research interests include Sanskrit and Japanese literary drama, traditional Asian dramaturgy, traditional Asian prosody, historical linguistics, and cognitive psychology.