On the relationship between TV dramas and folk culture

This issue focuses on TV dramas and folk culture topics. Folk culture is a national culture created, inherited and developed by the broad masses of the people in their long-term social life, and is the crystallization of the wisdom of the Chinese nation for thousands of years, the witness of history, and the transmission of experience. Tv drama is a kind of contemporary popular art, the art of "storytelling", with a wide audience. Realizing the "marriage" between folk culture and TV dramas can promote the inheritance and development of folk culture, expand the influence of folk culture, deepen the understanding and love of folk culture by the vast number of audiences, and also help to show "Chinese characteristics", "Chinese style" and "Chinese spirit", tell "Chinese stories" well, and spread "Chinese voices".

On the relationship between TV dramas and folk culture

Ying Zhao, Communication University of China

Abstract: TV dramas have a natural and intrinsic relationship with folk culture, which is determined by the expressive characteristics of folk culture in contemporary society and the popularity of TV dramas. Folk culture is colorful and unique, providing rich materials for TV dramas, and also injecting cultural "nutrition" and "blood" of the Chinese nation into TV dramas. Grasping the relationship between TV dramas and folk culture is conducive to Chinese TV dramas telling Chinese stories and spreading Chinese voices.

Keywords: TV drama; folk culture; locality; presence

Telling Chinese stories well and spreading Chinese voices is the responsibility and mission of television people. TV drama is the art of "storytelling", but also a kind of contemporary popular art, with a wide audience, whether in television media or online media, occupy an important position. Tv dramas are closely related to folk culture, and the two have a natural internal relationship. TV dramas are an important carrier for the inheritance and dissemination of folk culture, and folk culture provides precious and unique themes, materials and sources of inspiration for TV dramas.

First, the contemporary characteristics of folk culture

Mr. Zhong Jingwen believes in "Talking about Folk Culture" that folk culture "is a national culture created, inherited and developed by the broad masses of the people in their long-term social life." Its scope is very broad, including what we often call material culture, spiritual culture and social organization (such as family, village and various forms of social formation)." Professor Gao Youpeng believes that "folk culture represents two meanings: one is the national cultural heritage, which is the ideological background on which classical culture depends for its survival; and the other is the expression of emotions from the lowest levels of the people. Regardless of the definition, folk culture has the following three characteristics: first, it comes from "folk"; second, it is closely related to "daily life"; and third, it has a distinct "inheritance". These three characteristics also have special manifestations in contemporary society.

First of all, folk culture comes from "folk". Today, the spatial orientation of the "folk" of folk culture is not only directed to the countryside, its group orientation is not limited to the peasants or the bottom of society, and its connotation is not "corresponding" to the "upper" culture and "elite" culture. Entering the new era, socialist culture has the universal significance of "publicity", and there is no distinction between "upper level" and "bottom level". Folk culture is a unique culture that is different from the aesthetic characteristics and expressive characteristics of "high culture". Especially in the contemporary world where modern communication technology is developing rapidly and popularizing, cultural exchanges and integration have broken down barriers of class, region and nation. "People" represents the broadest "masses of the people", while the spatial concept of "inter" includes rural areas, townships and cities, and "folk" refers to the most extensive "grassroots" and "people" living in rural areas, townships and cities.

On the basis of agricultural civilization, the process of China's economic and social development is carried out simultaneously with the process of industrialization, urbanization and urbanization of the agricultural population, and resonates at the same frequency. In addition to being deeply influenced by Western culture in the process of industrialization, China's contemporary culture is also born out of China's agricultural civilization. Folk culture is more closely related to the unique agricultural civilization of the Chinese nation, which was, is, and will remain, which is the uniqueness of folk culture. Folk culture is the crystallization of the wisdom of the Chinese nation for thousands of years, the witness of history, the transmission of experience, and the inheritance of national blood and genes, which lays the foundation for the close relationship between folk culture and popular culture TV series.

From another point of view, after the rise of industrial civilization, in the face of the great changes and conveniences brought by the development of science and technology to production and life, folk culture has gradually declined. However, in the face of ecological pollution brought about by industrialization, big city diseases and other problems, especially since the new crown epidemic this year, people have suddenly discovered how close and important "relationship" "man and nature" is, and how wise and attractive our "folk culture" is when dealing with this relationship. In contemporary China, the "folk culture" rich in Chinese wisdom and Chinese spirit is gradually returning to the standard of life, and the Chinese people have begun to take the initiative to regain the unique, innocent and poetic "fireworks" of Chinese culture, and China is more confident to show the world the beauty of our unique culture and the beauty of life, reconstructing the colorful combination of world culture.

Second, folk culture is closely related to "daily life". There are many kinds of folk culture, including various folk customs, traditional handicrafts, food, clothing, houses, etiquette, festivals, festivals, games, folk songs and dances, nursery rhymes, myths, beliefs, family culture, etc. It can be seen that almost all of its manifestations are closely related to people's "daily life", covering clothing, food, housing, transportation and other aspects. The contact between folk culture and "daily life" can be divided into two kinds, one is directly reflected in life, such as folklore, festivals, festivals, diet, etc. There is also a kind of folk art that reproduces or expresses the daily life of a certain stage, region and nation, such as folk songs and dances, songs, handicrafts, etc. Regardless of the way, "daily life" is the most important "performance field" and "communication field" of folk culture. In particular, folk culture such as food, clothing, festivals, festivals, myths and legends has long broken through the restrictions of the region, and even gone abroad to become the common living customs of the Chinese community all over the world. Folk culture is often the beautification of "daily life", the summary and improvement of life experience, the artistic sublimation of interesting activities in life and social life, derived from "daily life" and serving "daily life", and spread and promoted through the exchange of people's life and social life. It is precisely because it runs through people's "daily life" that folk culture can have such a strong vitality and live endlessly after thousands of years of inheritance. In today's media era, in addition to interpersonal communication in "daily life", media and audiovisual language have become an important means of disseminating folk culture, and folk culture has also become one of the important contents of TV dramas and short videos.

Third, folk culture has a distinct "inheritance". There are many kinds of folk culture in China, the birth era, the circulation area, the ethnic group to which they belong are different, and behind each folk culture there is generally a moving legend and a relatively long inheritance history. Most folk cultures have been passed down from generation to generation, with relatively fixed "procedures", "craftsmanship" or "performance characteristics", it is precisely because of this that China's folk culture is thick and charming, with a distinct "inheritance". At the same time, in the contemporary era, folk culture also has a distinct brand of the times on the basis of inheritance, especially in order to meet the "productization" needs of the cultural industry for folk culture, in order to meet the communication requirements of modern media, it has carried out a "modernization transformation" in terms of means of expression and external form. Therefore, the inheritance of innovation and the "modernization and transformation" of folk culture have also become one of the important characteristics of contemporary folk culture. In the process of "marriage" between folk culture and TV dramas, it is precisely because of the "inheritance" of folk culture that the nostalgic aesthetic of TV dramas has been brought about. In the scenes or details of TV dramas showing folk culture, folk culture elements can often trigger the audience to relive the life of childhood, trigger memories of the daily life of grandparents, and then "empathize" with the audience in the depth of soft emotions.

In general, folk culture's understanding of people and people, people and nature, and people and society should maintain the characteristics of Chinese civilization. Experience and learning in traditional medicine, astronomical geography, agricultural customs, etc., which have been verified for many years, as well as handicrafts and performing arts with clear procedures and process specifications, should be preserved. For specific art types of content creativity, the application of handicraft technology and product design, etc., contemporary fashion elements can be added according to specific needs, and special attention should be paid to the "marriage" with TV dramas, which is a popular popular art in the world. Use audiovisual language to reproduce the historical heaviness and cultural characteristics of Chinese folk culture, and promote the classic inheritance of Chinese folk culture through the injection of modern elements and the application of media technology, so that Chinese folk culture can be unique, shine and amaze the world in the forest of world culture.

II. The "Fusion" and "Transformation" of Folk Culture and TV Dramas

The above briefly discusses the three characteristics of contemporary folk culture, with the aim of establishing a connection between folk culture and the art of television drama. Folk culture comes from the folk and is active in the folk. The people, that is, the broadest masses of the people. As a popular culture TV series, the main group of people it appreciates is precisely the most extensive people. Folk culture and TV dramas have the same audience group, it can be said that the people are the common "starting point" and "foothold" of folk culture and TV series; folk culture and "daily life" are closely related, the story content of TV series is precisely to show people's daily life and common emotional needs, especially realistic theme TV series, whose performance themes are closely related to people's food, clothing, housing and travel "hot topics", this "everydayness" is also consistent; folk culture has a distinct "inheritance", Inheriting the essence is the ideological sentiment and cultural symbol of the Chinese nation, which are also the main contents that constitute the characteristic culture and unique aesthetic characteristics of Chinese TV dramas. It can be said that the important characteristics of folk culture are in line with the content characteristics and aesthetic characteristics of TV dramas, and the two have a natural and close relationship. Folk culture should become an important creative material, performance content and spiritual core of TV dramas.

First, among the vast and excellent cultures in China, folk culture is the most suitable for "popularization" transformation. Folk culture and popular culture have a natural relationship, folk culture itself has the characteristics of "popularity", but there are certain differences with TV dramas in the way of expression and communication, folk culture in the "marriage" with TV series, can take a variety of ways to achieve "integration" or "transformation". First, folk culture itself provides rich materials for TV dramas, such as China's colorful mythological stories, folk stories, fables, etc., which have been reproduced through TV dramas, which is conducive to the promotion of Folk Culture in China, such as TV series "Mazu", "Baolian Lantern", "Legend under the Wangwu Mountain", etc. The story core in these TV series is directly based on folk stories and myths and legends that are familiar to China. Second, the use of folk culture elements, such as folklore, dialects, food, costumes, folk songs and dances, festivals and other folk cultural elements in the performance and reproduction of TV series, is integrated with the story telling of TV series, embedded in the storyline of TV series, kimono, hua, Tao and other sound and painting arts. The embedding of folk cultural elements can greatly enhance the national characteristics and cultural background of TV dramas, and can profoundly and truly show the essence and soul of Chinese culture. Folk culture originally comes from the public, and the use of TV dramas can make TV dramas more grounded and closer to people's real lives. Third, folk culture is often the presentation of the beauty of simplicity, folk culture is mostly derived from the rural life of the farming era, its form is mostly the beauty of the humble countryside, the beauty of subtlety, the beauty of reality, this kind of "fireworks" full of memory and true feelings, in the current strange, brilliant and colorful "technical packaging" and "audio-visual feast" unique, can give people a refreshing and fresh experience. Li Ziqi's short food video is a typical example, the beautiful colors, quaint music, simple scenes, and untraceable shots in the video show the production process of Chinese folk cuisine, reproduce the beauty of labor and the beauty of life, and lead people to jump out of reinforced concrete, return to the slow-paced pastoral life, return to "childhood", and return to the original way of life. It can be said that it is the combination of grounded folk culture and contemporary audio-visual art that is grounded and full of "fireworks", and is spread geometrically through the means of media integration, which has created the phenomenon of Li Ziqi's network explosion and has a certain inspiration for the creation of TV series. In addition to food, folk culture in folklore, costumes, entertainment, etc. are very suitable for display in TV series, even if it is a contemporary urban theme TV series, the use of folk culture elements such as folk festivals, etiquette, dialects, etc., will also greatly enhance the cultural thickness and emotional temperature of TV series, bringing different aesthetic experiences to the audience.

Second, from the perspective of the relationship between content and form, TV dramas need to inject "nutrition" and "blood" into folk culture. At present, TV dramas have become one of the most important leisure and entertainment methods for the people of China, and the demand for TV dramas is large every year, and content innovation has become the focus and difficulty of TV drama production institutions. However, judging from the TV dramas currently broadcast, there are still many kinds of folk culture in China that have not yet been developed, and there is still a huge "utilization" space for folk culture, which is a "resource rich mine". Drawing "nutrition" from folk culture is conducive to the innovation of TV drama theme content, and is more conducive to TV dramas highlighting regional and ethnic characteristics, enhancing the cultural connotation of TELEVISION, and deepening the cultural background of TV dramas. Our country is vast, but also a multi-ethnic big family, different regions, different ethnic groups have a unique folk culture, colorful, each has its own interests, can be through the above three ways to "marry" with the TV series. In the current TV series creation, there have been many folk cultural elements injected, and good results have been achieved, such as the TV series "Blood Romance", northern Shaanxi folk songs have become a major highlight and an important means to move people's hearts. In the TV series "New World", the old Beijing fried sauce noodles, noodles in the street market, sugar gourds, and Beijing dialects and colloquialisms are widely used, and these folk cultural elements have played an important role in shaping the style of the TV series "Jingpai". There are also some TV dramas such as "The Great Dyeing Workshop" and "The Big Boss", whose themes and main clues are also centered on folk culture, which not only tells a tortuous and inspiring wonderful story, but also has the artistic charm of printing and dyeing, New Year paintings, porcelain culture and the endless spiritual power of national handicrafts. There are many TV dramas that express folk culture in this way or make extensive use of folk culture elements. It can be seen that the injection of folk culture is conducive to enhancing the cultural connotation of TV dramas and enhancing the sense of history of TV series, and the deep popularity of these folk cultural elements has also greatly enhanced the strength and temperature of TV dramas to express life, and has played an important role in creating a healthy and progressive and profound film and television cultural atmosphere.

Third, the national is the world, and only by telling the Chinese story well can we spread the Chinese voice. Folk culture is a concentrated embodiment of the image and character characteristics of a country and a nation's culture, and also shows the historical heaviness of a country and a nation, and its expression is direct and perceptible, vivid and interesting. Consciously expressing China's excellent folk culture in TV dramas, paying attention to excavating the connection between folk culture and TV drama storytelling, can tell the "Chinese story" more vividly, and more intuitively, comprehensively and profoundly show the unique charm and life wisdom of Chinese civilization. Tv dramas are an art form that has swept the world, and Chinese TV dramas have a certain audience base around the world, especially costume dramas, martial arts dramas and some contemporary urban theme TV dramas. The overseas dissemination of TV dramas can enable Chinese culture to be vividly displayed and rapidly promoted in the international scope, so that the people of the world can understand Chinese culture more intuitively and in the way of aesthetic and emotional exchanges, therefore, through TV dramas, folk culture has a broader display stage, more and better display of the unique charm, artistic characteristics and life wisdom of Chinese civilization, which will be of great benefit to the enhancement of China's national soft power, international cultural influence and recognition.

In addition, folk culture also needs to be combined with TV dramas to expand its influence and realize its own continuous inheritance and development to ensure that folk culture can be passed on from generation to generation. In addition to the guidance and norms at the national level, it is more necessary for TV people to be full of affection and self-confidence in folk culture, actively create excellent TV dramas with profound folk culture heritage, and widely disseminate them through the power of mass media. The folk culture will be "contemporary", "popular", transformed and "story-oriented", and its profound connotation, aesthetic value and life wisdom will be vividly, intuitively and comprehensively displayed, attracting people to sincerely love, actively "pursue", take the initiative to "practice" and "inherit". TV dramas can effectively expand the influence of folk culture, deepen the audience's understanding and love of folk culture, which is conducive to the mass dissemination of folk culture and makes positive contributions to the inheritance and development of folk culture.

Third, handle the three relationships well

Of course, we should also deeply understand the differences between folk culture and TV dramas as popular culture, and the two should be more appropriately "integrated" and deal with three relationships:

First, deal with the relationship between "novelty" and "alienation". Folk culture is generally communicated and disseminated through interpersonal communication in a certain region and ethnic circle, while TV dramas as popular culture are disseminated on a larger scale with the help of modern media technology and digital technology. Based on this, in the process of popularization and transformation of folk culture, attention should be paid to handling the relationship between "sense of alienation", "strangeness" and "novelty" in the aesthetic process, not only to reflect the uniqueness of different regions and different ethnic cultures in folk culture, to achieve the aesthetic taste of "novelty", but also to pay attention to observing the general aesthetic requirements and aesthetic taboos of the audience, and avoiding the content transmission of too "niche".

Second, deal with the relationship between "original ecology" and "modern aesthetics". Folk culture has a long history, itself has a strong "inheritance" (generally through the inheritance of teachers or family inheritance), in the content, form, techniques and other aspects of a certain "normative", still maintain the traditional or "original" elements, "simple" is its important aesthetic characteristics. Tv dramas mainly meet the aesthetic preferences of "contemporary" audiences, so in the process of transformation, attention should be paid to dealing with the needs of "original ecology" and "modern aesthetics"

relationship. Generally speaking, the connotation of folk culture, the wisdom of life, and the excellent traditional philosophy of China should maintain a distinct inheritance, the external characteristic performance should reflect the "original ecology" of folk culture, and the modern aesthetic characteristics should be reflected in the processing of lens language, the color matching of Fuhua Dao, and other modeling designs, so that the integration of "original ecology" and "modern aesthetic" relationship processing should be achieved without any "sense of violation".

Third, properly handle the relationship between "locality", "presence" and "linearity". "Locality" and "presence" are important characteristics of folk culture. In the local area, it is often used for cultural products (projects) or tourism products (in the description of the project, it means that the consumption of cultural products (projects) or tourism products (projects) can only be realized by going to the location of the products (projects), for example, most tourist attractions are "local". "Presence" means that the consumption of a cultural product (project) or tourism product (project) can only be completed in a theater or a specific place, such as various theaters or live performances, concerts, etc. From this perspective, folk culture has a distinct "locality" and "presence". Whether it is the production of folk handicrafts, folk song and dance performances, ethnic or regional festivals, or dialects, food, and clothing, they all pay great attention to "origin". "Origin" influences the authenticity, historical value, uniqueness and scarcity of folk culture. However, TV dramas are typical "online" art, that is, disseminated through cable TV or the Internet, across regions and spaces, which is obviously different from folk culture, and needs to be properly "handled" in the transformation process to avoid the embarrassing situation of "Zhang Guan Li Dai" and "unworthy of the name" in the "integration". When folk culture is transformed through "online", it is necessary to retain the environmental background of "online" or "present", and follow its "local" and "present" laws and norms. In the process of creative transformation, the aesthetic rules of "local" and "present" should be integrated and artistically processed with the aesthetic principles of "online" to ensure the perfect integration of the two aesthetic feelings.

Folk culture is the "living fossil" of China's five-thousand-year-old culture, which inherits the tradition and is constantly innovating and developing. In its form, it is a concentrated expression of cultural symbols with Chinese characteristics, and ideologically it is immersed in China's excellent ethics and spiritual wisdom, and these dazzling cultural wealth are the precious materials and spiritual cores needed for China's TV dramas. TV dramas are an important carrier and inheritance "messenger" of China's excellent traditional culture and national characteristic culture. TV drama creators should fully realize the important value of China's resource-rich folk culture treasure house, dig deep and carry out popularization transformation, realize the integration and symbiosis of the two, promote each other, display "Chinese characteristics", "Chinese style" and "Chinese spirit", tell "Chinese stories", and spread "Chinese voices".

bibliography:

Zhong Jingwen: "Talking about Folk Culture", People's Daily Publishing House, 1990 edition, p. 19.

Gao Youpeng: Cultural Vision, China Federation of Literary and Art Publishing House, 2004, p. 30.

Edit the Typography | Yue Mengyi Zhang Jiaying Zhang Jinlei

Proofreading review | Zhao Ying