Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley door pickup 10am - 7pm 3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
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  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
Orientalism and the Operatic World

Orientalism and the Operatic World

Tarling, Nicholas

Hardcover

OperaMusic Reference

ISBN10: 1442245433
ISBN13: 9781442245433
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Published: Apr 23 2015
Pages: 354
Weight: 1.25
Height: 1.00 Width: 6.00 Depth: 9.00
Language: English

Western opera is a globalized and globalizing phenomenon and affords us a unique opportunity for exploring the concept of orientalism, the subject of literary scholar Edward Said's modern classic on the topic. Nicholas Tarling's Orientalism and the Operatic World places opera in the context of its steady globalization over the past two centuries. In this important survey, Tarling first considers how the Orient appears on the operatic stage in Britain, France, Germany, Russia, and the United States before exploring individual operas according to the region of the Orient in which the work is set.

Throughout, Tarling offers key insights into such notable operas as George Frideric Handel's Berenice, Giuseppe Verdi's Aida, Giacomo Puccini's MadamaButterfly, Pietro Mascagni's Iris, and others. Orientalism and the Operatic World argues that any close study of the history of Western opera, in the end, fails to support the notion propounded by Said that Westerners inevitably stereotyped, dehumanized, and ultimately sought only to dominate the East through art. Instead, Tarling argues that opera is a humanizing art, one that emphasizes what humanity has in common by epic depictions of passion through the vehicle of song.

Orientalism and the Operatic World is not merely for opera buffs or even first-time listeners. It should also interest historians of both the East and West, scholars of international relations, and cultural theorists.

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