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Dissertation Hwang Final.pdf (2.99 MB)

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Remaking the American Family: Asian Americans on Broadway during the Cold War Era

Hwang, Seunghyun
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1403302910

Abstract Details

2014, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, Theatre.
Remaking the American Family: Asian Americans on Broadway during the Cold War Era adds to the extant literature of theatre history by showing how an examination of Broadway productions can serve as a portal to understanding the historical emergence of Asians in their journey to become full American citizens. Based on three criteria: financial success, artistic success, and Asian content, I chose the following: South Pacific (1949), The King and I (1951), The Teahouse of the August Moon (1953), Flower Drum Song (1958), and A Majority of One (1959). Through closely reading these Cold War Broadway productions, I discuss the ways in which the productions suggest a revision of the way the Asian family was co-opted into American family ideology after World War II. I investigate how concepts of ethnic groups, gender, education and American democracy are reinforced, revised, reshaped, and articulated by what I define as a Cold War traditional family structure and travel literature. I analyze aspects of the transforming family structure in three central chapters. In Chapter 2, The American Family Portrait: Asians Move into the Frame I delineate a new definition of American that includes Asians as evidenced in the staging of these mainstream Broadway productions. In Chapter 3, "Interracial Romances and Parental Responsibilities, the productions demonstrate Asians as responsible men and women who have the ability and desire to become good American parents and citizens. Chapter 4, Educating the Children, focuses on characters learning English intertwined with the tenets of American democracy. Such education was crucial to Asians to justify the possibility of their process of Americanization. The concluding chapters summarizes my analysis and suggests future research possibilities.
Lesley Ferris (Advisor)
Beth Kattelman (Committee Member)
Jennifer Schlueter (Committee Member)
171 p.
American History; American Literature; American Studies; Asian American Studies; Ethnic Studies; Families and Family Life; Gender; History; Theater; Theater History; Theater Studies; Womens Studies

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Hwang, S. (2014). Remaking the American Family: Asian Americans on Broadway during the Cold War Era [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1403302910

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Hwang, Seunghyun. Remaking the American Family: Asian Americans on Broadway during the Cold War Era . 2014. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1403302910.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Hwang, Seunghyun. "Remaking the American Family: Asian Americans on Broadway during the Cold War Era ." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2014. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1403302910

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1403302910
761
© 2014, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.