EASC Guest Speaker Series: Writing Against Erasure: Courtesans, Performance, and the Making of Late Ming Drama - Talk by Prof. Peng Xu

Event details Date: Monday, October 12, 2026 Time: 2:00 PM to 3:20 PM Location: Doheny Memorial Library (DML) - 240 - 3550 Trousdale Parkway, Los Angeles, CA 90089 Type: Lecture / Talk / Workshop Campus: University Park Campus Department: East Asian Studies Center (EASC) Audience: Students, Alumni, Faculty/Staff About this event Writing Against Erasure: Courtesans, Performance, and the Making of Late Ming Drama Monday, October 12 | 2:00PM-3:20PM | DML 240 | RSVP EASC Guest Speaker Series: Talk by Prof. Peng Xu (Associate Professor, ShanghaiTech University) with Faculty Moderator Prof. Mengxiao Wang (EALC 145: Introduction to Chinese Culture Art and Literature) Peng Xu’s The Courtesan’s Memory, Voice, and Late Ming Drama (University of Michigan Press, 2025) reinterprets late Ming drama by foregrounding courtesan performance culture as a generative force in theatrical production. Drawing on a wide range of sources—including scripts, city guides, biographies, diaries, letters, and visual materials—the book argues that courtesans were not merely subjects of representation but active agents who reshaped theatrical form, performance conditions, and literary style. In doing so, it challenges male-centered historiography and offers a new framework for understanding gender, media, and creativity in early modern Chinese theater. This event is co-sponsored by the USC East Asian Library. Official event details: https://calendar.usc.edu/event/easc-guest-speaker-series-writing-against-erasure-courtesans-performance-and-the-making-of-late-ming-drama-talk-by-peng-xu