Maël Renouard's 'La Réforme de l'opéra de Pékin' Reviewed

Étienne Hatt reviews Maël Renouard's book 'La Réforme de l'opéra de Pékin', published by Rivages. The narrative blends history and fiction through the memories of a Cultural Revolution actor. The narrator, a literate participant in the reform of Peking opera, oversees the production of eight 'model operas' featuring positive worker, peasant, and soldier figures. The story explores his internal conflict as a traditional opera lover driven by constraint, sincerity, and ambition. After his fall, he reflects on his legacy: in 1996, twenty years later, the operas reappear but are now performed in the US as postmodern spectacles and sung in Chinese karaoke bars, losing their original meaning. The review highlights the ironic twist of history.