Close Listening/Analysis Reactions

According to Moon, John Chinaman seems to be anyone from the emigrating from the Orient to the US. In this song, he is portrayed as almost a child, or lesser-than-human (or Yankee human, at least). The song attempts to give the advice and the reactions from the Yankees: warning, almost threatening them to "not abuse the freedom you enjoy." In lieu of referring to the Chinese with human pronouns and identifying words, the lyrics of "John Chinaman, My Jo" only refer to the Chinamen as "John" and in how they affect the "poor Yankees," the more human subject of the song. In relation to "John Anderson, My Jo," the John Chinaman version seems to receive the same type of reluctant blessings, yet, only with an added distinct warning,.
The significance of including 'my Jo' seems only to add a tiny air of friendship for the Chinaman (as we most all immigrants to the US, especially the Irish in these times: which brings us to the historical significance. Taking into account the major years of the Great Irish Potato Famine (1840s, 50s), many new Irish immigrants to the Western world were in the midst of establishing their own cultural identity within the US at this time. Therefore, one possibility for the creation of these types of relations could have been in a desire of the Irish people to include in themselves a self-identification that was truly "American;" putting down foreigners who pose as a threat to them in the job market.


And....
* Is this a yellowface performance? How would Moon interpret this vocal
performance?

I believe that Chin Chin Chinaman's performance in "The Geisha" is undoubtedly a
yellowface performance. According to Moon, stereotypes appeared mostly in lyrics and
dialogue, as well as the sets; also, these dialogues often relayed contemporary social
and political attitudes that were similarly found in newspapers, poetry, and popular fiction.
Reading a brief synopsis, I find the play to exude all of these qualities of what
could be considered a 'yellowface' performance: the social ideas that even a lowly
British sailor is more important and more eligible a bachelor than a nobleman of the
orient is a direct reflection of the part of popular culture's fear of inter-cultural marriage
and relations. Listening to the vocal performance, (although I know almost nothing of
Asian languages), it seems as if Powers exaggerates his accent/speech while singing:
also uncovering some of the same asian stereotypes that persist today (i.e. the pronunciation of really = rearry).