Made-Up Asians traces the history of yellowface, the theatrical convention of non-Asian actors putting on makeup and costume to look East Asian. Using specific case studies from European and U.S. theater, race science, and early film, Esther Kim Lee traces the development of yellowface in the U.S. context during the Exclusion Era (1862–1940), when Asians faced legal and cultural exclusion from immigration and citizenship. These caricatured, distorted, and misrepresented versions of Asians took the place of excluded Asians on theatrical stages and cinema screens. The book examines a wide-ranging set of primary sources, including makeup guidebooks, play catalogs, advertisements, biographies, and backstage anecdotes, providing new ways of understanding and categorizing yellowface as theatrical practice and historical subject. Made-Up Asians also shows how lingering effects of Asian exclusionary laws can still be seen in yellowface performances, casting practices, and anti-Asian violence into the 21st century. 

Contents
 
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
Introduction – The Persistence of Yellowface
Chapter 1 – “A Dumb Chinese Slave”: The Stage Chinaman and Clown Yellowface
Chapter 2 - “Chinee by Nature”: Physiognomy and Scientific Yellowface
Chapter 3 – “How to Makeup”: Theatrical Makeup Guidebooks and Private Yellowface
Chapter 4 - “Dainty as Needs Be”: The White Actress and Cosmetic Yellowface
Chapter 5 – “The Oriental Eye”: Special Effects Technology and Prosthetic Yellowface
Epilogue – Casting as Gatekeeping
Appendix - Yellowface Instructions in Theatrical Makeup Guidebooks during the Exclusion Era
Notes
Bibliography
Index