Phil 327

David Eng “In the Shadow of a Diva”

In this article, Eng analyzes the play M. Butterfly. In the play, the French diplomat, Rene Gallimard, falls for a Chinese opera diva, Song Liling, who is (unbeknownst to him) “a man disguised as a woman.” Liling is also a spy for the Chinese government. After Liling extracts information from Gallimard, Gallimard is sent back to France in disgrace while Liling is tortured by the Chinese government for having sex with a man. Liling makes his way to France and the two have an affair for twenty years. When the truth is revealed that Liling is really a man, Gallimard is convicted of treason and sent to prison. Unable to face the truth, Gallimard commits suicide.

Most analyses of M. Butterfly point out the way in which the play exposes and twists racist and misogynist themes. Here, the racist/gender stereotypes of Asian men as effeminate and Asian women as submissive (i.e. “hyper-feminine”) are discussed. For Gallimard speaks of his “perfect woman” – perfect, presumably, because in his own mind she conforms to his own racist/sexist stereotypes.

However, Eng points out that most analyses examine this intersectionality from a strictly heterosexual perspective. Thus Gallimard, although racist and sexist, is represented as a bewildered and inadequate straight man. Eng aims to expose the heterosexism of such interpretations. How could these two men, Gallimard and Liling, live together for twenty years as lovers and yet it be the case that Gallimard was unaware of Liling’s sex. Please!!    

Eng draws an analogy between two concepts: “Yellow Fever” and “Rice Queen.” “Yellow Fever” refers to a fetish of straight, white men for “Oriental” women (where Asian women are understood in terms of racist/sexist stereotypes). “Rice Queen” refers to a gay, white man who is attracted to Asian men according to racist/sexist stereotypes (where Asian men play the role of ‘woman’ and the Rice Queen the role of ‘man’). Here the racist/sexist stereotype of Asian men as effeminate is clearly in play.

By exposing Gallimard as effectively a “Rice Queen”, Eng is able to illustrate the true racist/sexist quality of his sexual desire. He then argues that while Gallimard, owing to his racial/colonial privilege, has the ability to stay in the closet (impersonating an ineffectual straight man), Liling has no such privilege. Once again the intersections of race and sexual orientation are revealed.