Storytelling Art Of Northern Tragic Consciousness

The story-telling of Northern Shaanxi is one of the most important folk raps in the northwest of China. In most of the excellent story-telling works lies a sense of nondescript desolation and sorrow toward life and history. This broad and deep tragic consciousness is comparable to and is not in the least inferior to the ancient Greek tragedies. Such a crucial academic exploring point, however, is neglected by former researcher. The author aims to make, through the analysis of the Tragic Theory and the interpretation of representative works of Northern Shaanxi Story-telling, a preliminary discussion on the basic issues concerning the tragic consciousness such as its formation, forms of expression, etc. The paper also intends to give a tentative location, through comparative studies, for the academic position of this tragic consciousness, thus filling this research gap, in the hope of contributing to the enrichment and development of national tragic consciousness.In the first chapter, the concept of tragic consciousness, which is shared by all human beings, is established and analyzed in the first place. The author tends to subscribe to the interpretation of Mr. Cheng Yalin that is tragic consciousness is the kind of heroic and sad awareness of the existing human life. Then the author differentiates and analyses the concepts--tragedy and tragic consciousness--which are frequently mixed, and draws the conclusion that there are two differences between them--intension and extension:as to intension, tragedy is an art whereas tragic consciousness is a kind of human mentality; as for extension, the former contains the later.In the second chapter, the main part of this paper, the author starts with a brief review of the factors that lead to the formation of the tragic consciousness in Northern Shaanxi Story-telling, and then expounds its forms of expression in details. It is believed, in this paper, that there are at least four factors:harsh natural environment, the influence of nomadic culture, painful historical memory and the blind artist's awareness of suffering. In addition, it is also believed that its main forms of expression are the following three:one is to be tragic throughout the story without any salvation, also known as inflexible tragic consciousness, the other is to start with a tragedy but to end up with a comedy, also known as flexible tragic consciousness, still the other is to be comic in appearance but tragic in essence, also known as recessive tragic consciousness.In the third chapter, in order to give a relatively accurate academic coordinate to the tragic consciousness in Northern Shaanxi Story-telling, the author particularly chooses the ancient Greek tragedies and Chinese classic tragedies to be the vertical and horizontal reference axes, and relates them to Northern Shaanxi Story-telling respectively. But due to limited space here, experiences gained at key points are used to apply to the whole picture. Firstly, Ten Non-intimacy, the outstanding representative work of inflexible tragic consciousness, is related to King Oedipus, the classical work of ancient Greek tragedies. As is drawn from the above comparison and contrast, the two works share at least two common points:one is to be tragic throughout the story without a happy-ending, the other is to struggle and resist in despair with disobedience; they mainly differ in that the former is superior in the breadth of tragic consciousness, whereas the later in its depth. Next, Selling Wives, a typical example of the flexible tragic consciousness, is related to The Injustice of Dou E, the best of Chinese classical tragedies. Similarly, the two works also have at least two things in common:one is to be joyful and sorrowful at the same time and joys override sorrows, the other is to have a happy-ending with the help of external forces. Their difference lies in that Selling Wives covers a broader sense of tragic consciousness while The Injustice of Dou E digs deeper. In actuality, all the common points and differences serve as prerequisites and theoretical base for the four plays to carry out historical equal dialogues.In short, conclusion drawn from above analysis is that, in terms of the breadth and depth of Northern Shaanxi Story-telling representative works, they are absolutely eligible for the world's greatest tragedies.