Archives West Finding Aid

Chinese Oral and Performing Literature (CHINOPERL) (中國演唱文藝研究會) is an organization that is devoted to the research, analysis and interpretation of oral and performing traditions, broadly defined, and their relationship to China's culture and society. Its membership consists of scholars in the humanities and the social sciences who recognize the significance of oral performance to Chinese literature and culture. The full name of the organization is the Conference on Chinese Oral and Performing Literature, abbreviated as CHINOPERL. It was founded in 1969 by a group of eminent scholars, such as Yuen Ren Chao 趙元任, 1892-1982; Harold Shadick, 1915-1992, and Cyril Birch, 1925- , who recognized the uniqueness and the significance of oral performance to Chinese literature. The purpose of the association is to encourage the recording, study, and practice of traditional forms of Chinese literature that are primarily oral, such as storytelling, opera, ceremonial chanting, and folksongs, as well as those that have traditionally been enhanced by singing and intoning. The very important topic of the interplay between oral and written texts has always been central to the journal. Since 1982, various modern genres, such as spoken drama, new musical plays, cinema, and television plays, have been added to the scope of scholarly research and publication by CHINOPERL. It was the noted linguist, Yuen Ren Chao who coined the acronym, CHINOPERL, from CHINese Oral and PERforming Literature. The First CHINOPERL conference was held on 31 March and 1 April 1969 at Cornell University. The twenty scholars who attended were CHINOPERL's founding members. CHINOPERL is incorporated in the United States and has an international membership. CHINOPERL publishes a journal — CHINOPERL: Journal of Chinese Oral and Performing Literature (a list of the content of back volumes is available) — and holds a conference each year at which papers are presented and ideas exchanged in conjunction with the Association for Asian Studies.

-- https://chinoperl.osu.edu/