China and the West

[Lavrin, Janko]. Yi shu jia de Yibusheng. Jiao Juyin yi. [ID D26219].
Lavrin schreibt : "Ibsen is also one of those who look upon the creation of art as a means to the creation of life. He hated mere aestheticism with its dogmatic l'art pour l'art, considering it as dangerous to ture art as dogmatic theology is to true religion. In the first half of his literary activity, Ibsen was considerably under the influence of the French drama of mere plot and situations. But as soon as he came to regard the intrigue, as well as the character, subspecie of some 'idea' or other, he was led gradually by corresponding changes in technique, to the so-called Ibsenian play. Intrigue for the sake of intrigue lost its former importance for him, and in transferring the centre of gravity to the 'philosophy' and psychology of the characters, he naturally emphsized the inner at the expense of the external drama. The consequence was that the external dramatic action and movement were reduced to a minimum, to be replaced by the inner dramatic tension. With this object Ibsen (in his later works) put the tragic quilt of his heroes into the past, i.e. outside the acted drama. By partial confessions, by mysterious hints and allusions to previous quilt he creates from the very beginning of the play that peculiar 'Ibsenian' atmosphere which draws our attention so strongly to the inner working of the characters. The external catastrophe itself is for Ibsen only a pretext and symbol of an inner transformation."