Madison Bussell EscotoFollow

Presentation Type

Demonstration

Number of Presenters

1

College or University

University of Arkansas, Fayetteville

Department

English

Student Level

Undergraduate student(s)

Abstract

Ornamental flowering plants have been instrumental symbols in literature across all times and cultures. I’m examining why flowers are such perceptual stimulants, sexual symbols, and literary agents. Through the lens of Harvard Divinity’s term “phytopoetics,” botany, and literary scholarship, I will look closely at this phenomenon in The Peony Pavilion, a Chinese opera from 1598. Exploring “the garden” as a place, I will present the embodied, sensory, and relational elements of the human-flower relationship using the striking visual of Tang Xianzu’s revolutionary production. Just as we perceive the costumes and makeup of the opera as giving traits to the characters, we find that the embodied aesthetics of flowers lead us to assign the same conclusive “personalities” to plants.

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“Leafing” through Chinese Opera: Phytopoetics in The Peony Pavilion

Ornamental flowering plants have been instrumental symbols in literature across all times and cultures. I’m examining why flowers are such perceptual stimulants, sexual symbols, and literary agents. Through the lens of Harvard Divinity’s term “phytopoetics,” botany, and literary scholarship, I will look closely at this phenomenon in The Peony Pavilion, a Chinese opera from 1598. Exploring “the garden” as a place, I will present the embodied, sensory, and relational elements of the human-flower relationship using the striking visual of Tang Xianzu’s revolutionary production. Just as we perceive the costumes and makeup of the opera as giving traits to the characters, we find that the embodied aesthetics of flowers lead us to assign the same conclusive “personalities” to plants.