“Eugene O'Neill in China” (Publication, 2005)
Year
2005
Text
Cheng, Fu-tsai. Eugene O'Neill in China. (Master thesis, Graduate Institute of Foreign Languages and Literature, National Cheng Kung University, 2005).
http://etdncku.lib.ncku.edu.tw/theses/available/etd-0705105-103717/unrestricted/etd-0705105-103717.pdf. (One40)
http://etdncku.lib.ncku.edu.tw/theses/available/etd-0705105-103717/unrestricted/etd-0705105-103717.pdf. (One40)
Type
Publication
Contributors (1)
Cheng, Fu-tsai
(um 2005)
Mentioned People (1)
O'Neill, Eugene
(New York, N.Y. 1888-1953 Kap Cod bei Boston) : Dramatiker, Nobelpreisträger
Subjects
Literature : Occident : United States of America
/
References / Sources
Chronology Entries (14)
| # | Year | Text | Linked Data |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1920 |
Performance of The emperor Jones by Eugene O'Neill, Nov. 1, 1920 by the Provincetown players in the Playwright's Theater in New York. Hong Shen watched one performance. |
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| 2 | 1922 |
Mao, Dun. [News of foreign literature]. In : Xiao shuo yue bao ; vol. 13, no 5 (1922). "In drama, the new playwright Eugene O'Neill wins great popularity and deserves to be a genius in American theatre." First mention of O'Neill in China. |
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| 3 | 1923 |
Hong, Shen. Yama Chao = Zhao Yanwang. In : Dong fang za zhi ; vol. 20, no 1-2 (1923). = In : Hong Shen xi qu ji. (Shanghai : Xian dai shu ju, 1933). [Geschrieben 1922]. Performance of The Yama Chao = Zhao Yanwang by Hong Shen. Adaptation of The emperor Jones by Eugene O'Neill. Hong Shen played the main role. In the newspaper 'Ching bao' reported that the performance was a failure because the audience couldn't understand it and even regarded the actor as a maniac. Hong Shen : "Zhao Yanwang is intended to show that society should be held responsible for the sins of the individual. No one in the world is born morally good or bad. Both the good and the bad are products of their environment. Nor is there anyone who is perfectly good or absolutely bad, for human behavior is rather complicates. But why is Zhao like this ? If we can study his life story and the stories of people like him, we will find they might all have suffered seriously from maltreatment and unhappy experiences, especially when they were too young to resist." "The first scene is somewhat splendid – the language, in particular, is condensed and the dialogues are full of vitality. From the second scene on, he borrows the background and facts from Eugene O'Neill's The emperor Jones, such as circling in the forest, becoming delirious and seeing hallucinations and being chased with people beating the drums, and so on. Apart from the meaning of its subject matter, nothing else in the play is worthy of mention" Cheng Fu-tsai : Although Hong Shen is fiercely attacked for his imitation of O'Neill's play, his adaptation is undoubtedly a creation of his own rather than a mere mimicry of the American prototype. He has not just incorporated the expressionistic devices into his own play, but has striven to make the play represent and reflect the social and political situation of China in the 1920s. His attempt at externalizing the psychological fear of an escaped convict in modern Chinese drama is unmatched. Thus, the creation of The Yama Chao has achieved a certain degree of success in early modern Chinese drama. From one of Hong Shen's admissions it ensues that for eight scenes of the drama he utilized the 'background and the facts' from The emperor Jones by Eugene O'Neill, and only the first scene, according to him, 'is essential, its style is cohesive and selective, the dialogue is impressive', hence, only this part of the drama is really original. The Yama Chao borrowed from its American prototype the theme of money, the division of scenes, the use of soliloquies and the psychological treatment of hallucinations in a forest setting. Act three is an adaptation of the forest scenes from The emperor Jones. The Yama Chao follows in scene division, motif, and technical devices. Hong Shen found O'Neill's symbolic treatment of social and individual ills in The emperor Jones congenial to his own purpose of staging social reform : the predominantly male cast in O'Neill's play attracted Hong Shen. Hong, Shen : "I am extremely disgusted at the male's impersonating female characters. It is perhaps because I have read too much of Freud's works on abnormal sexuality. Every time I see a man putting on the make-up of a woman, I really feel like having goose-pimples all over me. But I still want to stage a play, and consequently the only thing I can do is to write a play which does not require female characters at all. This is one of the reasons why I made up my mind to borrow the form of Eugene O'Neill's The emperor Jones when the subject-matter of The Yama Chao was decided upon". [In : Zhongguo hua ju yun dong wu shi nian shi liao ji. Tian Han [et al.] zhu. (Beijing : Zhongguo xi ju chu ban she, 1958). 中国话剧运动五十年史料集]. |
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| 4 | 1924 |
Yu, Shangyuan. Jin ri zhi Meiguo bian ju jia Aoni'er [ID D28770]. Yu discussed the introduction of Eugene O'Neill into China and gave brief synopses of a number of O'Neill's plays, including 'Beyond the horizon', 'The emperor Jones', 'Anna Christie', 'The hairy ape', and 'The first man'. He categorized them as plays ranging from symbolism, realism, psychology, and expressionism to the discussion of social problems and the portrayal of characters. In addition to summarizing the mentioned plays, Yu also tried his hand at assessing O'Neill's contribution to drama by commenting 'O'Neill's writing style as wee as his characters thrives with vitality. His dramatic technique is extraordinary and he always creates something new'. With Walt Whitman, American poetry can be seen as full-grown ; with O'Neill, true American theatre appears on the world stage'. |
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| 5 | 1929 |
Zhang, Jiazhu. Aoni'er [ID D28772]. Editor's introduction : "O'Neill, the greatest modern American playwright, came to Shanghai on a tour recently. He was interviewed several times at his residence in a hotel by Zhang Jiazhu, who was kind enough to write for us the following article. It is basically a translation from B[arret] H. Clark, from which we can get some basic ideas and facts about the American playwright. It is our intention to include another article on O'Neill in the next issue of this magazine." [This article never appeared]. Zhang related how he had taken advantage of Eugene O'Neill's visit to China and interviewed him at his hotel in Shanghai for several times. Basing his article on B.H. Clark's essay, he gave a thorough introduction of the playwright, dealing with his life, his character, his artistic creation and his plays. In Particular, Zhang mentioned the role that O'Neill played in the Provincetown Players as well as the staging of some of his early plays, such as Bound East for Cardiff and Thirst. He also made mention of O'Neill's reputation in Europe and the production of his plays in Japan. Zhang asserts that Hong Shen's The Yama Chao is an adaptation of O'Neill's The emperor Jones. Zhang Jiazhu a rencontré Eugene O'Neill vraisemblablement à plusieurs reprises, au cours du séjour à Shanghai en 1928. C'est à la suite de ces rencontres qu'il rédige son article. L'influence d'O'Neill s'est alors déjà largement répandue parmi les hommes de théâtre chinois. Après une description d'O'Neill, dépeint comme un personnage très observateur mais peu enclin à se livrer, Zhang se consacre à l'artiste et à sa biographie. L'artiste est présenté comme un poète, un observateur de la nature humaine qui conçoit la vie tout à la fois comme une tragédie et une aventure extraordinaire. O'Neill est aussi un auteur qui place ses exigences en matière de création au plus haut niveau. Son expérience de la vie et ses recherches constantes dans le domaine de l'expression théâtrale sont les deux points sur lesquels Zhang insiste plus particulièrement. Zhang ne place O'Neill dans aucun mouvement littéraire, considérant qu'il est en constante évolution. En cela, il suit l'opinion d'O'Neill lui-même qui dit à l'époque avoir encore beaucoup à apprendre. Pour preuve de l'inventivité du dramaturge, Zhang cite sa comédie Marco millions, qui vient d'être jouée en Chine pour la première fois avec succès, alors que la plupart des critiques dramatiques américains considéraient à cette époque O'Neill comme incapable d'écrire une comédie. Après une brève introduction admirative de Zhang pour l'homme et ses talents de dramaturge, l'article retrace de façon circonstanciée l'existence d'O'Neill (naissance, environnement familial, formation), mettant l'accent sur son parcours dans le monde dramatique et sa formation, de ses premiers essais en tant qu'acteur au prix Pulitzer accordé à Beyond the horizon, en passant par son travail avec les Players de Greenwich Village. Zhang s'attache surtout à montrer la recherché constant d'O'Neill ou les thèmes dont il traite. Ce qui l'intéresse, c'est O'Neill en tant qu'individu et surtout en tant que dramaturge, la façon dont il s'insère dans la société, son rapport aux hommes et au monde. |
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| 6 | 1930 | Performance of Bound East for Cardiff by Eugene O'Neill in China. |
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| 7 | 1930 |
Gu, Jianchen. Shen dong. (Shanghai : Xian dai shu ju, 1930). 紳董 Adaptation von The emperor Jones von Eugene O'Neill. |
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| 8 | 1930 | Performance of Ile by Eugene O'Neill in the Department of Drama, Beijing University under the direction of Xiong Foxi. | |
| 9 | 1934-1937 |
Cao, Yu. Lei yu = Thunderstorm. In : Wen xue ji kan ; vol. 1, no 3 (1934). = (Shanghai : Wen hua sheng huo chu ban she, 1936). (Wen xue cong kan ; 1). [Uraufführung in Nanjing 1936]. 雷雨 Cao Yu writes in the preface to Tunderstorm : "Critics have regarded me as a disciple of Ibsen, or conjectured that certain parts of the play are inspired by Euripides' 'Hippolytus' or Racine's 'Phedre'. I am still myself, be so small as I am. I cannot fathom the profundity of the masters, just as the beetle in the dark wonders about the brightness of the day. Over the past decade I have read several plays and have performed in them. However hard I try, I still wonder which part of the play I have deliberately imitated. Perhaps at the lower stratum of my subconsciousness, I have deluded myself : I am an ungrateful servant. I have stolen thread by thread the golden yarn of my master's house, and woven my ugly garment out of the stolen threads and deny the discolored threads (now in my hands) remain the master's." Cao, Yu. Ri chu = The sunrise. (Shanghai : Wen hua sheng huo chu ban she, 1936). 日出 Cao Yu writes in the postscript to The sunrise : "It is a novel attempt, which I have seen in O'Neill's plays and I know it has been successful." Cao, Yu. Yuan ye. = The wilderness. (Shanghai : Wen hua sheng huo chu ban she, 1937). 原野 Cao Yu writes in the postscript to The wilderness : "I had trouble writing the third act. I have adoped two techniques that O'Neill uses in The emperor Jones – the drums and the gunshots in two of my scenes. At first I didn't think he exerted any influence on me, but after I finished writing and read it twice, I felt I was unconsciously influenced by him. The two techniques, to be sure, belong to O'Neill, and if they are aptly used, they are created out of O'Neill's ingenuity, not mine." Sekundärliteratur Cheng Fu-tsai : Cao Yu is fascinated with Greek drama, Aeschylus and Euripides. Several of Shakespeare's plays have influenced him considerably while in college and he was influenced by Eugene O'Neill. Cao Yu's plays, especially The wilderness and Thunderstorm bear a striking resemblance to O'Neill's plays in many aspects. Both of them, for example, employ the expressionistic technical devices to enhance the dramatic effect on the stage. There are also similarities in characterization, the connection between the individual and the race or society and the use of symbols. One remarkable similarity is the treatment of the conflicts of the inner world. In The wilderness Cao Yu adapts O'Neill's The emperor Jones to a Chinese background. Cao Yu does not merely borrow the structure, theme and expressionistic devices from The emperor Jones. He has successfully blended the expressionism of O'Neill with his own realistic portrayal of Chou Hu's regression into a delirious state. Liu Haiping : All these plays are indebted in different degrees to O'Neill in terms of characterization and stagecraft. We find striking parallels between Abbie in Desire under the elms and Fan Yi, the heroine in Thunderstorm, who is also a stepmother with an incestuous longing for her stepson. Robert in Beyond the horizon parallels Zhou Chong in Thunderstorm, also a younger brother with a touch of the poet and a longing for beauty beyond the horizon. Anna in Anna Christie and Chen Bailu, the heroine in Sunrise are both prostitutes hurled into intense suffering by the evil forces of life. Like O'Neill, Cao Yu uses the hallucinatory scenes not only to externalize the haunting memories of the character and explain the source of his tragedy, but also to present a brief, panoramic review of the nation's past. Joseph S.M. Lau : The wilderness resembles the American prototype in 'its bold and inventive use of grotesque images, disconnected plots, contrived symbolism, and deliberate pauses between the already sparse dialogues to create tension'. Chen David Y. : Wilderness adopts the form and technique from its prototypes with so much flexibility that it works out a pattern of its own. Wilderness seems to follow The emperor Jones in the artistic pursuit, lending itself to the expressionistic treatment of emotion through advanced stagecraft and extensive use of symbolism. Horst Frenz : The main character Zhou Fanyi in Thunderstorm is modeled upon Abbie Putnam in Desire under the elms. Like Abbie, Fanyi longs for her stepson. Their incestuous passion becomes a most eloquent and powerful expression of their defiance of traditional morals. |
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| 10 | 1936 |
Zhongguo xin wen xue da xi. Zhao Jiabi zhu bian. (Shanghai : Liang you tu shu gong si, 1936). [A comprehensive anthology of modern Chinese literature]. 中國新文學大系 Hong Shen : "[Professor George P. Baker] has been teaching at Harvard for more than twenty years since I arrived there. He has countless outstanding students in dramatic circles, and [Eugene] O'Neill is one of them. His dramatic course, called English 47, is known throughout America." |
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| 11 | 1938 | Performance of Before breakfast by Eugene O'Neill in Shanghai. |
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| 12 | 1941 |
Li, Qinghua. Yao wang : san mu ju. (Chongqing : Tian di chu ban she, 1944). 遥望 : 三幕劇 Adaptation of Beyond the horizon by Eugene O'Neill in Chongqing. The adaptation was set in a Chinese village, retained much of the original plot and characterization. Two young cousins, one a romantic poet and the other a practical farmer, fall in love with the same girl in the neighborhood. The triangle leads to the mismatch of the poet and the girl and mismanagement of the farm, on the one hand, and the self-imposed exile of the elder cousin, the practical farmer, on the other. The play ends in similar disillusionment in life for all three characters involved. The major alteration mad in the Chinese version lies in what it is that lures mankind beyond the horizon |
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| 13 | 1983 | Performance of Desire under the elms (Act 3) by Eugene O'Neill by the Central Academy of Drama under the direction of Zhang Fuchen |
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| 14 | 1984 | Performance of Long day's journey into night (Act 4) by Eugene O'Neill by the Central Academy of Drama under the direction of Zhang Fuchen |
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Sources (2)
| # | Year | Bibliographical Data | Type / Abbreviation | Linked Data |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1927 |
Yu, Shangyuan. Jin ri zhi Meiguo bian ju jia Aoni'er. In : Xi ju lun ji. (Shanghai : Bei xin shu ju, 1927). [Der zeitgenössische Dramatiker Eugene O'Neill]. 戲劇論集 |
Publication / One57 | |
| 2 | 1929 | Zhang, Jiazhu. Aoni'er. In : Xin yue ; vol. 1, no 11 (1929). [Eugene O'Neill]. | Publication / One59 |