The Research On The Revolutionary Red Drama In Central Soviet Area

The Revolutionary Red Drama in Central Soviet Area refers to a revolutionary dramatic pattern,rising up from The Central Soviet Area in the period of The Second Civil War,which aims at supporting the soviet revolutionary war with art means.The revolution activates the production of drama,and also promotes the discovery and reconstitution of drama significance.In the revolutionary village,drama is no longer an independent aesthetic form,but a realistic revolutionary practice.Dramatic changes have taken place in the relation between drama and life.Drama is no longer independent of life,but a fusion with life as a unique form.Acting and watching serve as forms of revolutionary celebration and carnival on square in Red Counties.The introduction part mainly attempts to sort out literature of Red Drama and related research results,describe the misunderstanding and blind area of the existing study,and to put forward new perspectives and methods in further understanding of Red Drama.It then concludes that the understanding of Red Drama should not only limited to the standpoint of social historical criticism and aesthetic criticism which focus on the analysis of ideological factors and aesthetic and artistic features,but also have to take into account the concerns of the development of socialist revolution in Central Soviet Area,the essential characteristic and the spirit of the drama,which are necessary conditions to explore the existing mode,main constitutes,art forms and performance styles of Red Drama.The dissertation also maintains that cross-disciplinary approaches such as anthropology,psychology,communication,and dramatic study can give a further interpretation.The First Chapter examines the historical and cultural relationship between the Soviet Revolution and the emergency of Red Drama from the embryology angle.The implication of the research finding is that the occurrence of Red Drama derived from revolutionaries’ findings and reconstruction of the meaning of drama.All revolutionary practices together contribute to the dramatic meaning.The impulse toward rediscovery of dramatic meanings has been stimulated by revolutionary reality needs,which making the drama that have become an important part of revolution.The utopia imagination of the world proletarian socialist-revolution provided cultural enlightenment directly for rural revolutionist who come to rediscover dramatic significance and promote to rebuild the relationship between life and drama,With the establishment of the new dramatic tradition,the meanings of dramas has been reconstructed.So that,revolutionist,by making use of the resurrection of traditional performance of drama,drive the revolution adapted to the new environment.After all,Red Drama is closely connected to revolution,and inherent in the nature of revolutionary history.The Second Chapter explores the existence and cultural function of revolutionary red drama from the perspective of anthropology.This chapter points out that the revolution profoundly change the way of existence of drama and make a fundamental change in the relationship between drama and life.In the space of revolutionary history,drama is no longer an aesthetic form which independent of life,but an unique one that mingles with everyday life.Red drama,aiming at not only to reflect but rebuild realities,take part in the life order reconstruction of the military and civilian.Dramatic carnival is a main form of revolutionary holiday celebration,while at the same time,dramatic performance is an essential part of revolutionary rituals.In the third chapter,much attention is riveted on the constitutions and production modes of Red Drama.Because of the revolution,generalized dramatic attendees including revolutionary intellectuals,rural peasants and red soldiers get on the stage,then take part in the revolutionary carnival.The performers of Red Drama are consistent with revolutionary participants.Regarded as leaders and participants of the Soviet revolution,revolutionary intellectuals take dramatic performance as a special mode for social transformation.As the new subject of dramatic performers,Rural peasants reaffirm spiritual beliefs and advance the role of identities by performing dramas.Traditional opera actors show new subjective consciousness by accepting revolutionary renewal and examination.As a unique form of revolutionary collective life,the collective creation is not only a generalized historic representation of the Red Drama,but also an important way of formation of the subject.The Fourth Chapter focuses on the analysis of space production and environment of the Red Drama.The prefect combination of art and social practices is best exemplified in theater performance of the Red Drama.In the tense historical context,revolutionists act dramas according to the circumstances.Some locations,such as village square,street corner,ancestral temple,main house,mandala,temple,stage,meeting place,front line position are chosen flexibly to be dynamic sites for dramatic performance,while at the same time,transformed to be the stages for collective carnival of rural people.Revolution brings the performance space and ritual space into one,and creates all kinds of simple but colorful circumstances.In the fifth chapter the centralism analyzed the deconstruction and reconstruction of dramatic forms under the rural revolutionary situations.Revolution have changed not only living spaces and audience subjects,but also existing modes as well as performing forms and dramatic patterns of the play.And these changes are expressed in specific rituals made up of symbolization of personage,stereotype of plot,linearisation of scene,recurrence of "story within a story" and ritualization of performing pattern.The Red Drama deconstructs aesthetic principles of the modern drama,to attract a wide range of pre-modern rural drama art techniques and early civilization drama aesthetic experience,to create a more "variety" stage,to promote the integration of their audience perception,evoked emotional resonance,the performance becomes a real revolution ceremony.The Sixth Chapter analyzes in detail various kinds of "General-drama" emerging from the Revolution Square.Masked speech,as the most common "Art Performance" in the Revolution Square,seems like but not drama,making the outdoor performance and revolution ritual become an organic unity.Employing comprehensive forms such as singing,dancing,talking and singing,acting by two men,queuing,stepping gymnastics,etc.to report current affairs of revolution,Skit goes beyond aesthetic standards of the modern drama.Singing and dancing drama in village square is not the one with mature patterns but an extension of the ceremony in that it stresses embedding of singing and dancing in stories,and transforming singing and dancing into rituals,rather than pay attention to the organization of drama.All kinds of general drama in village put on new clothes of revolution,just like "new wine in old bottles",become important forms of revolution square carnival.The Seventh Chapter mainly analyzes spiritual faces and conflicts of the red drama.This chapter reveals that carnival and discipline constitute "one body with two sides"in the red spirit of drama.Revolution on the one hand activates the original spirit of revolution,restores drama into a carnival of freedom in the collective and guides people walking into the theater,wholly releasing the passion of revolution.On the other hand,revolution,forcefully rejects the intervention of drama aesthetics spirits,incorporates compulsorily the collective revelry activity into an unified and organized program,accepts the strict censorship and discipline of political ideology,enabling watching drama no longer a choice of freedom for people but organized political rituals.Carnival and discipline always accompanies with each other,that is to say carnival is the representation of discipline while disciple is the essence of carnival.So from carnival to ritual is the historical destiny of red drama.The Conclusion Chapter rethinks the historic coordinate of the red drama from the overall view of modernity in the 20th century drama,and explores the modern connotation of the red drama as well.It indicates that red drama is the historic backwash of the May 4th drama,historic variation of the left-wing drama movement in the cities,and historic preview of mass drama movement in Yan’ an during the Post Soviet Era.Besides,red drama also has very close relations with the seventeen-year drama after the establishment of the People’s Republic of China and the drama with archetypes in the Great Culture Revolution.As for modern drama,red drama is the end of modernity for drama as well as its starting point.Mingled with the qualities of pre-modern,modern and anti-modern spirits,red drama is a kind of modern drama for anti-modernity.