Unpacking the Orientalism in Bizet’s ‘The Pearl Fishers’
A video essay by Keith Fernandez
A video essay by Keith Fernandez
Vancouver Opera is bringing back The Pearl Fishers to the stage for the first time in 30 years. As part of our work in exploring and explicating the opera, we have commissioned some thinkers, creators, artists and composers to explore their responses to the opera. More information on our production is here.
In Bizet’s The Pearl Fishers two best friends become rivals over their shared love of a priestess; sacrifice, sacrilege and singing ensue but first a little context:
The Pearl Fishers is an “orientalist” work of art, a work created by the colonial west, depicting western perceptions of the east. In nineteenth-century France, artists and audiences went crazy for orientalist works. It allowed them to be transported to a world that they knew nothing about, and gave them permission to fantasize about subjects that were taboo in western culture but were allegedly open in the so called ‘Orient.’
Originally, The Pearl Fishers was supposed to take place in pre-Colombian Mexico; but as the opera was being produced, diplomatic relations between France and Mexico were breaking down. In an effort to maintain political relationships, producers at the Théâtre Lyrique switched the location of The Pearl Fishers from ancient Mexico to ancient Sri Lanka.
Keep in mind they knew nothing about Sri Lanka. This is extremely prevalent in scenes where the chorus of Sri Lankans worships their god with French Catholic music. This is only made worse by the fact that these Gods are Hindu gods Brahma and Shiva. The famous temple of the Tooth Relic, located in Kandy and referenced in the famous tenor-baritone duet, is by and large a Buddhist temple.
But then again, whoever said ‘Orientalist’ works were accurate sources of information about eastern nations?
Interestingly enough, the switch in location worked in their favour. Pearl fishing and diving had been practiced in South Asia and the Middle East for centuries. I myself grew up in a city in the Middle East where they still have local fisherman who dive for pearls and a museum dedicated to its legacy lives in the heart of the city. We even learned about its importance in our early Social Studies classes. While modern technology makes this a significantly safer trade today — in the times of the opera, pearl fishing was practiced in an incredibly hazardous way.
So what lens do we view the work with today? The Pearl Fishers is ripe with colonial perspective on the South Asian experience and appropriates several South Asian and South East Asian cultures in its story. The names of the characters are not Sri Lankan in their origin, and lean more towards the Middle East. The depiction of the female priestess is presented through a male gaze and the queer undertones of the friendship have been swept under the rug. To bring the opera into the 21st century, we likely need to recontextualise the relationships, religious tropes, culture and identity of the piece to present it in a respectful and culturally sensitive way aided by South Asian creatives. As a South Asian myself I am humbled to be able to have a conversation about this piece with my fellow brown people and the creative team behind this show and hope we can tell a story of humanity, friendship and care rather than one that lives in the eyes of a time that is not reflective of the world we live in today.
Keith Fernandez is a queer, South Asian originally from Mumbai, India. His main form of creative expression lives within the world of musical theatre where he has recently pivoted from professional performer to director and dramaturg. He is keen to explore the use of technology in multidisciplinary theatre and is looking forward to telling personal South Asian stories using the artistic expression of drag and music.
Tickets and information to The Pearl Fishers, October 22–30 at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre, are available at VancouverOpera.ca