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Made-Up Asians: Yellowface During the Exclusion Era

Publication ,  Book
Lee, EK
January 1, 2022

Made-Up Asians traces the history of yellowface, the theatrical convention of non-Asian actors putting on makeup and costume to look East Asian. Using specific case studies from European and U.S. theater, race science, and early film, Esther Kim Lee traces the development of yellowface in the U.S. context during the Exclusion Era (1862-1940), when Asians faced legal and cultural exclusion from immigration and citizenship. These caricatured, distorted, and misrepresented versions of Asians took the place of excluded Asians on theatrical stages and cinema screens. The book examines a wide-ranging set of primary sources, including makeup guidebooks, play catalogs, advertisements, biographies, and backstage anecdotes, providing new ways of understanding and categorizing yellowface as theatrical practice and historical subject. Made-Up Asians also shows how lingering effects of Asian exclusionary laws can still be seen in yellowface performances, casting practices, and anti-Asian violence into the 21st century.

Duke Scholars

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DOI

ISBN

9780472075430

Publication Date

January 1, 2022

Start / End Page

1 / 268
 

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Lee, E. K. (2022). Made-Up Asians: Yellowface During the Exclusion Era (pp. 1–268). https://doi.org/10.3998/mpub.12121434
Lee, E. K. Made-Up Asians: Yellowface During the Exclusion Era, 2022. https://doi.org/10.3998/mpub.12121434.
Lee, E. K. Made-Up Asians: Yellowface During the Exclusion Era. 2022, pp. 1–268. Scopus, doi:10.3998/mpub.12121434.
Journal cover image

DOI

ISBN

9780472075430

Publication Date

January 1, 2022

Start / End Page

1 / 268