{"product_id":"the-japan-of-pure-invention","title":"The Japan of Pure Invention","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003eLong before Sofia Coppola’s \u003ci\u003eLost in Translation\u003c\/i\u003e, long before Barthes explicated his empire of signs, even before Puccini’s \u003ci\u003eMadame Butterfly\u003c\/i\u003e, Gilbert and Sullivan’s \u003ci\u003eThe Mikado\u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003epresented its own distinctive version of Japan. Set in a fictional town called Titipu and populated by characters named Yum-Yum, Nanki-Poo, and Pooh-Bah, the opera has remained popular since its premiere in 1885.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e \u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003eTracing the history of \u003ci\u003eThe Mikado’s\u003c\/i\u003e performances from Victorian times to the present, Josephine Lee reveals the continuing viability of the play’s surprisingly complex racial dynamics as they have been adapted to different times and settings. Lee connects yellowface performance to blackface minstrelsy, showing how productions of the 1938–39 \u003ci\u003eSwing Mikado\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eHot Mikado\u003c\/i\u003e, among others, were used to promote African American racial uplift. She also looks at a host of contemporary productions and adaptations, including Mike Leigh’s film \u003ci\u003eTopsy-Turvy\u003c\/i\u003e and performances of \u003ci\u003eThe Mikado\u003c\/i\u003e in Japan, to reflect on anxieties about race as they are articulated through new visions of the town of Titipu.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e \u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003ci\u003eThe Mikado\u003c\/i\u003e creates racial fantasies, draws audience members into them, and deftly weaves them into cultural memory. For countless people who had never been to Japan, \u003ci\u003eThe Mikado\u003c\/i\u003e served as the basis for imagining what “Japanese” was.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Josephine Lee","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":53616416260476,"sku":"9780816665792","price":62.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0251\/4980\/0541\/files\/9780816665792_cd43fc49-3e24-4f37-b5b8-34adfe869d4a.jpg?v=1726477940","url":"https:\/\/combined-academic.myshopify.com\/products\/the-japan-of-pure-invention","provider":"Combined Academic Publishers - Mare Nostrum Group","version":"1.0","type":"link"}