Henrik Ibsen and Modern Chinese Drama

by Chengzhou He

Henrik Ibsen is one of the most influential foreign writers in 20th century China. In the century review of Chinese Ibsenism, He Chengzhou explores Chinese Noraism in the context of the Chinese reception of Ibsen as a realist, a romantic and a symbolist, and analyses this dramatic phenomenon from historical, cultural and literary perspectives. It also initiates the study of the Chinese relay translations of Ibsen by comparing them with the Norwegian original. No foreign writer contributed as much to the rise of modern Chinese drama as Ibsen did. In this book He Chengzhou demonstrates that Ibsen s influence on modern Chinese drama underwent three important stages: from Chinese problem drama to Tian Han s early realistic plays and to Cao Yu s great masterpieces. Based on close textual analysis, the author interprets and analyses both the influence and the inter-textual relationships between Ibsen s plays and modern Chinese plays. Among other things, the author offers an unprecedented comparative study of Hedda Gabler and Sunrise. With the establishment of realistic drama in China, Ibsen was integrated into the Chinese dramatic tradition. Ibsen s influence on contemporary Chinese dramatists has come both directly and indirectly via that heritage of Chinese modern drama.

314 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2004

Reviews

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

Henrik Ibsen is one of the world's most famous dramatists; his plays are well-known for their realism and are extremely popular. In China, during the early 1900s as modern literature developed, Ibsen's plays had a profound effect on the development of modern spoken drama and the New Culture movement.

In Henrik Ibsen And Chinese Modern Drama, Chengzhou He analyses the Chinese reception of Ibsen from historical, cultural, and literary angles; He also demonstrates the influence Ibsen had on a generation of Chinese dramatists including Tian Han and Cao Yu (whose plays Sunrise and Thunderstorm both are heavily indebted to Hedda Gabler and Ghosts respectively. The author also offers the first comparison between Hedda Gabler and Sunrise - demonstrably proving Ibsen's influence on Cao Yu and Sunrise.

Well-researched and written, He utilises extensively sources in both Norwegian and Chinese to make his argument. This is a scholarly book and therefore sometimes is not an easy read, but nevertheless, the scholarship is important in analysing the Ibsenist influences on modern Chinese theatre - influences that still reverberate today.