Cultural Differences In Chinese And Western Dramas Seen From The Adaption Of Desire Under The Elms

Drama, the product of economy and culture, is the perfect combination ofliterature and art. As the essence of human civilization, drama has been playing animportant role in the history of human civilization. From ancient Greek drama to theBritish and American realism drama, people can trace the development course ofwestern civilization.With the speeding up of the globalization today, economic and cultural exchangeamong countries becomes increasingly frequent. As a window to learn the culture ofanother country, drama plays an important role in cross-cultural communication.Cross-cultural drama theory aiming at national cultural penetration and fusion beganin the west. It has gradually become a hot international theatrical study field since the1980s. In recent years, with the efforts of domestic dramatists through introducingand advocating, cross-cultural drama began to appear in our country. There are threeforms of modern cross-cultural drama writing, except in the transition periodtranslation product has long been eliminated, the adaption and imitation are stillcommon practices in drama creation, which have a strong vitality.In the1980s, Chinese playwrights showed an earnest interest in EugeneO’Neill’s works. Sichuan opera playwright Xu Fen adapted Desire under the Elmsinto Sichuan Opera, renamed it as Yu Hai Kuang Chao. In May1989, it wassuccessfully performed in Chengdu, Sichuan Province. Xu Fen’s adaption reflects theChinese and western differences in terms of attitudes towards desire, aesthetics andmoral values. The adaption is a successful and daring attempt. It not only enriches thecontents and the forms of the Chinese theatre but also entertains the Chineseaudience.This thesis, by comparing the adaption of Sichuan Opera Yu Hai Kuang Chaoand Eugene O’Neill’s original drama Desire under the Elms, intends to make a studyon the differences between Chinese and western drama cultures. It includes six parts:the introduction, four chapters and the conclusion. The introduction part briefly introduces the origin and evolution of Chinese andwestern drama. Drama is the bridge of human cultural exchanges and a mirror ofhuman life and history. Eugene O’Neill, as the founder of modern American drama,has been influential in China since the debut of his plays. This part also introduces theliterature reviews on O’Neill and his works in China, and the adaption version of XuFen’s Yu Hai Kuang Chao.Chapter One, from the perspective of reception aesthetic, analyzes the literaryacceptance of Xu Fen’s adaption Yu Hai Kuang Chao, its background and reception.The differences in the aesthetics of Chinese and western audiences, as well as theideology, will affect the western drama’s adaption in China. Adapter has to follow thebasic rules of the theatrical adaption, and they also have to consider the impact of theplay on the audiences. Xu Fen’s adaption follows the principles of cross-culturaladaption, at the same time, makes full use of Sichuan Opera artistic charm. She usesthe Sichuan Opera form as expression and retains the original spirit of the drama toadapt the drama into a Chinese version.Chapter Two illustrates the operating mechanism of drama adaption, itsfeasibility, the problems with drama adaption, and the importance of drama adaptionin cross-cultural communication. Drama adaption is as a kind of re-creation, not onlyhas been restrained by cultural ideology of the target country, but also has beenaffected by the adapter. Drama adaption plays an important role in cross-culturalcommunication.Chapter Three, using the basic concepts of drama by close reading, compares thedifferences between the two versions from the angles of scripts, stage performance,settings, and Chinese and western drama’s literary and cultural traditions. Westerndrama emphasizes identicality of the actors to the characters, and development of theplot by means of dialogues and monologues. At the same time, it decorates the stageas the actual, trying to reproduce the real life on stage. Chinese operas mainly focuson performance of the actors, singing, speech, dance-acting and combat and othersystematic movements on the virtualized stage. The time and space can be set by thestage property or by performers’ vocal expressions. And Chinese opera actors aretending to show characters’ inner world to create their “likeness” rather than “truthfulness”.Chapter Four adapts the perspective of culture to probe into the differencesbetween Chinese and western cultures. Owing to the fact that the Chinese and westerndrama were originated from different cultural backgrounds, the differences in termsof aesthetical pursuit and exposure of desire are inevitable. Chinese opera is anintegration of stage art, which has a fixed pattern. Chinese opera was originated indaily life, while western drama was originated from religious sacrificial activities.Chinese opera has kept a lot of traditional techniques, while western drama has beenexperiencing a series of theatrical innovations. Through adaption, the reader andaudience can see the culture collisions between Chinese and western dramas.The conclusion part of the thesis summarizes the important role of cross-culturaldrama adaption in the global context. Cross-cultural adaption as a way of culturaltransmission, not only embodies the culture of the origin countries, but alsoinfluences the culture of the target countries. It not only enriches the stageperformances of the target countries, but also promotes the target countries’ dramainnovation. This kind of positive cross-cultural drama adaption also promotes thecultural communication among countries.