Soviet Dramatic Theory and Dramas on Stage in 1930s Shanghai

Mei Li Inouye

doi:10.19857/j.cnki.ICL.20225205

Volume 5 Issue 2

Jun. 2022

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Mei Li Inouye. Soviet Dramatic Theory and Dramas on Stage in 1930s Shanghai[J]. International Comparative Literature, 2022, 5(2): 74-100. doi: 10.19857/j.cnki.ICL.20225205

Citation:

Mei Li Inouye. Soviet Dramatic Theory and Dramas on Stage in 1930s Shanghai[J]. International Comparative Literature, 2022, 5(2): 74-100. doi: 10.19857/j.cnki.ICL.20225205

Mei Li Inouye. Soviet Dramatic Theory and Dramas on Stage in 1930s Shanghai[J]. International Comparative Literature, 2022, 5(2): 74-100. doi: 10.19857/j.cnki.ICL.20225205

Citation:

Mei Li Inouye. Soviet Dramatic Theory and Dramas on Stage in 1930s Shanghai[J]. International Comparative Literature, 2022, 5(2): 74-100. doi: 10.19857/j.cnki.ICL.20225205

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Soviet Dramatic Theory and Dramas on Stage in 1930s Shanghai

doi: 10.19857/j.cnki.ICL.20225205

Mei Li Inouye^,

Centre College

Received Date: 2021-12-10
Accepted Date: 2022-02-12

Abstract

Abstract

This paper examines left-wing dramatists'engagement with Soviet dramas and theories in their experiments to mobilize the Chinese people and modern-ize the Chinese nation during the 1930s in Shanghai.It asks how the incorporation of Soviet dramatic theories and the performance of Soviet works advanced left-wing dramatist agendas and laid the ground for later modern spoken drama and film re-forms.It demonstrates that prior to the first translation of Stanislavski into Chinese in 1943, Shanghaiyeyu juren xiehui上海业余剧人协会(the ShanghaiAmateur Drama-tists Association) under the direction of Zhang Min章泯(1907-1975) engaged with Soviet dramatic theories in their rehearsals and productions in the mid-to-late 1930s in Shanghai.Actors in this troupe translated Richard Boleslawski(Boleslavsky) (1889-1937)—a Polish director, teacher and actor and a student of Konstantin Stan-islavski(1863-1938)—into Chinese and wrote articles comparing themselves to characters such as Katerina from Alexander Nikolayevich Ostrovksy's(1823-1886) play The Storm and Dasha from Feodor Vasilyevich Gladkov's(1883-1958) play Cement.This paper contributes to the history of modern drama in China by exploring the Soviet connection to Chinese modern drama as early as the 1930s.
- Modern spoken drama,
- Sino-Soviet theory,
- Stanislavski,
- Zheng Junli,
- Zhang Min

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References(53)

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