| While historical writing has always been an important part of Chinese cultural tradition, history was reconstructed and reexamined in Chinese theater during the 1980s as part of the dynamic cultural discussions of the decade. This dissertation provides detailed analysis of three representative theater works from the 1980s, situating these plays within China's historical, social, political, cultural, and artistic context, as well as the tremendous social changes and enthusiastic intellectual pursuits of that decade. The dissertation examines how these plays imagine China's twentieth century through the themes, plots, characters, languages, and structures of dramatic texts, as well as through theatrical signs such as space, set, costume, acting, sound, and lighting. The previous social taboos, hidden histories, and dispersed stories are presented in these plays in order to search for the root of historical traumas and provide lessons for the nation's ongoing modernization project. These plays creatively utilize a variety of performing arts and theatrical styles in order to reflect the changes in history.The Introduction delineates the origin, development, function, and significance of Chinese historical writings and historical dramas in order to demonstrate how history is presented differently in these plays as a result of social changes of the period. Chapter Two analyzes Uncle Doggie's Nirvana (1986) as a dramatization of China's complex modernization process between the 1940s and the1980s and its impact upon generations of Chinese peasants. Sangshuping Chronicles (1988), the focus of Chapter Three, deconstructs the sacred icons of Chinese culture and Maoist revolution as causing national disasters and historical stagnation. Chapter Four delineates how The World's Top Restaurant (1988) critically evaluates the privileges and diseases within Chinese tradition in order to explore ways to creatively transform China into a prosperous modern country. The Conclusion summarizes how these three plays manifest the coexistence of Chinese tradition, Maoist legacy, Western modernity, and postmodern sentiments in the intellectual scene of the 1980s. |
