Faraway Settings: Spanish and Chinese Theaters of the 16th and 17th Centuries

A comparative study of Ming and Iberian theaters has never been attempted. Thus, this book aims to provide the reader with a series of different approaches. First, through a comparison of specific works by Spanish and Chinese playwrights during the Ming and Habsburg periods, we aim to show that at times certain commonalities are in reality spaces fraught with misunderstanding. A melancholic character in Spain would not be the same as a melancholic figure in Chinese theater. A particular plant or flower had completely different symbolic meanings. However, it is curious to note how certain character types in both theaters resemble each other; and how the interaction between actors and audience would show clear parallels. At the same time, this is a book that also finds the thrill of correspondences and affinities as they are recovered through modern staging, climate change, universality of emotions, representations of friendship, folk characters, metaphors and dreams.