I bought a volume of < Ibsen's plays published in the 1970s> on the Confucius Old Books Network. The book is very new, and there is almost no trace of being read. Thinking that after more than forty years of going around this book, I met the first reader who was more interested and might be able to finish it, and I don't know whether it was fortunate or unfortunate.
Friends who are keen to observe the reading situation of Chinese people may find that Chinese are very fond of reading, especially those who like to read so-called world famous works. They often cling to the idea that it is beneficial to open the book, and they are hungry and thirsty for all the books, as if there is a black hole in the spirit. They not only love to read books, but also love to make reading a sacred thing. In their reading genre, the most beloved is the novel, especially the Western novel. Even if it is not a world famous book, as long as it has a translation, it can get a lot of fans. If you ask them the meaning of reading novels, they will not hesitate to answer many points of view, such as how they can improve their realm and experience different lives. But they certainly don't have that much of a passion for theater. They may know that Shakespeare is the world's most famous playwright, but not many people must have seen Shakespeare's plays once. Let them make a choice between the Dream of the Red Chamber and Shakespeare's plays, surely 99% of people will choose the Dream of the Red Chamber. For traditional literature, most Chinese either have the embarrassment of admiration and pride but read very little, or disdainful but not read at all. This seems to be quite different from the situation of Westerners with famous books. Of course, they also read world famous works, but they seem to prefer the things of their own classic writers, and they are more respectful of drama. I heard that the indispensable books in the English family are the Bible and shakespeare plays. They may not know about famous foreign masterpieces, but they must have cherished the characters in Shakespeare's plays. In fact, it can be said that most foreigners are not as familiar with foreign literature as Chinese. This is a really interesting phenomenon!
The influx of recommended books illustrates the fact that contemporary Chinese young people have always loved novels, followed by prose, then poetry, and finally drama. If we look at it according to the traditional literary concept, this kind of reading situation can almost be regarded as a miscellaneous work, right? Because poetry is authentic in traditional Chinese literature, in addition to poetry, songwriting has quickly become popular, and even drama can attract scholars. Only novels are the lowest status, and even reading is hidden. This actually continued until the rise of the new literary movement in the late Qing Dynasty. Some friends like to say Han Fu Tang poems, Song Zi Yuan qu, Ming and Qing novels from the perspective of the new literary history since the Republic of China, in order to show that this is a recognized tradition of Chinese literary genres, in fact, this is not to be agreed with...
It is understandable that the ancient Chinese people liked poetry, after all, this skill was required for interpersonal communication in the examination. It's also normal to like songwriting. But why do they see drama as more important than fiction? My understanding is that drama has more indoctrination than fiction. In other words, it contains more ethical and moral content, unlike novels, which are more entertaining, (or a little taller) and aesthetic in nature.
This topic can be stopped, let's take a look at Ibsen's play.
< four kinds of Ibsen's plays> selected four of his masterpieces. They are < the pillar > of society, the < doll's house>< group of ghost > and the < people's public enemy >. According to literary theorists, these 4 works are completely realistic. The < doll's house in it should be Chinese well-known one >. In the early Minchu, this Chinese drama once caused a very big response and discussion. Lu Xun specially wrote an article for this purpose< how to > after Nala left. Compared with classical Chinese drama, this play is completely detached from the legendary flavor, without any bizarre plots and coincidences that cause strong stimulation, and completely reflects the contradictions hidden under the undisturbed life of the husband and wife in family life from the perspective of life trivialities, and finally ends with The awakening of Nala's female consciousness and leaving. Comparing it with famous works in classical Chinese drama, such as Dou E'er, such as wutong autumn rain, such as the Hall of Eternal Life, or with some of Shakespeare's plays, it can be seen that Ibsen, although he also examined the relationship between family and marriage from an ethical point of view, was different from the image of classical drama that emphasized discipline or tried to create beauty, and he created a woman whose consciousness awakened and began to demand independent personality and the respect of her husband. What happened to Nala after she left? This one-hundred-odd-decades-old play reminds us with an open-ended ending of the codes that must be paid attention to in the ethical relationship of marriage. This allows women to think about and learn from the completion of female consciousness, and to make it clear that they also have an independent personality, and can try to control their own destiny, not just the husband's doll, and the theme of male appendages.
August 21, 2021