Xiangsheng and the Emergence of Guo Degang in Contemporary China

This book explores xiangsheng, one of the most popular folk art performance genres in China, its enlistment by official propaganda machine after the founding of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and its revival in popularity under Guo Degang and his Deyun Club. Just as the 1950''s saw the shift of xiangsheng ''s social function from entertainment to the political tool of ‘serving the party’, Gu...