Abstract
This essay aims to analyze the types of the historical plays during the War of Resistance Against Japan, reasons for the prosperity of this particular type of play and the historical background. The focus is put on the success of “the historical plays of uniting the chaotic country” by Guo Moruo, “the historical plays of the national crisis” by Aying and Yao Ke and “the historical plays of the peasant uprisings” by Yang Hansheng. The wartime left-wing writers showed great concern for the country and in their works, there are both the political implication of using the past to satirize the present and the complex humanistic feelings. More importantly, the double tragedies of the history and the humanity in these plays remarkably pushed the development of the art of tragedy in China.
摘要
在剧目统计的基础上, 笔者重新分析了抗战时期历史剧的类型及其兴盛的时代因缘和史学背景, 重点讨论了以郭沫若剧作为代表的“乱世整合史剧”、 从阿英到姚克的“民族危亡史剧”、 阳翰笙等人的农民起义史剧的成就, 认为以左翼为主导的战时剧作家感时忧国的历史想象中, 既有借古讽今的政治寓意也寄托着复杂的人文感怀, 而其杰出之作则写出了历史与人性的双重悲剧, 显著地推进了现代悲剧艺术在中国的发展。
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References
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Translated from Zhongguo xiandai wenxue yanjiu congkan 中国现代文学研究丛刊 (Modern Chinese Literature Researches Series), 2007, (2): 40–71 by WANG Hui, School of English Studies, Dalian University of Foreign Languages
Xie Zhixi 解志熙 (1961–) was born in Huan county, Jiangsu. He graduated from the Chinese department of Northwest Normal University with a bachelor’s degree in 1982. He got a master degree in literature from Henan University In 1986 and obtained a doctor degree of literature from Peking University in 1990. From 1990 to 1999, he was holding a teaching position in the Department of Literature in Henan University and in 1992 he was promoted as a professor. In 1993, he was nominated as the Excellent Scholar by the provincial government of Henan. He became a doctor supervisor in 1998 and in 1999, he was given the Government Allowance granted by the State Council. In 2000, he was transferred to Tsinghua University and he is now a professor and doctor supervisor in the Chinese Department of Tsinghua University. He is engaging himself in the studies of the literary trends in contemporary China, the modern poetics and the comparative literature. He has published more than fifty essays in such journals as Literary Criticism, Foreign Literature Studies and Modern Chinese Literature Researches Series. His major works include Existentialism and Modern Chinese Literature, The Reeds in the Wind: On the Modernity of Modern Chinese Literature and many others.
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Xie, Z. The historical tragedy and the human tragedy. Front. Lit. Stud. China 3, 64–96 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11702-009-0003-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11702-009-0003-z