Research On Lessing's Drama Theory And Creation And The Enlightenment Problem It Contains

As a representative of German Enlightenment thinkers in the middle of the 18th century,Gotthold Ephram Lessing made outstanding contributions to the understanding and thinking of the spirit of the times expressed in drama.Lessing's drama theory focused on his correspondence and discussion with two friends about tragedies around 1756 and in the Hamburgische Dramaturgie.His drama creation continued throughout his life.This article takes these materials as the object to conduct research from some realistic "problems",which including the contradiction between Lessing's scattered thought expression and systemic thinking,the variable and inconsistency of his dram creative activities,as well as the huge disagreement among the researchers.In Wessel's view,this is a manifestation of Lessing's ideological crisis in the transformation period of the Enlightenment.It points to the expansion of the impact of sensibility on reason in the mid-18th century and the conflict between the rationalist paradigm and the empiricist paradigm.For Lessing,his way of thinking and expression is that he is willing to find some acceptable truth in various contradictory growth paradigms in order to reach a reconciliation between metaphysical things and experience-historical things.Attempts,specific to his dramatic activities,are embodied in a theoretical dialogue in a critical way,thus approaching the truth.His drama creation not only educates morality,but also reveals the limits and boundaries of rational truth in the close connection with social reality.In order to restore the "growth”aspect of Lessing's thought,this article sorts out and analyzes the context and development of Lessing's drama theory in the order of letters,drama reviews,and creation through close reading of the text,and interpret the formality of his drama creation.It pursues the meaning of form and content and it also discusses the enlightenment issues contained therein,and further grasp the relationship between Lessing's understanding of drama and enlightenment as a whole.This article is composed by three parts:introduction,text and conclusion.The introduction clarifies the research foundation,theoretical basis and research path by combing Lessing's position in the history of German thought and literature and the academic research results on Lessing's drama theory and creation.The first chapter takes Briefwechsel über das Trauerspiel as the research object.discussed the issues of tragic emotion and enlightenment.In terms of drama theory,Lessing's early communications and discussions with his friends revolved around the emotion and purpose of the tragedy.He opposed Nicolai's practice of confining tragedy to the perceptual realm and Mendelssohn's exposition of appreciation.He used a Rousseau's sense of pre-rational sympathy as the basis of moral sense and the only emotion that tragedy should arouse.He tried his best to maintain the universality of tragic enlightenment.Behind their controversy are different understandings of human nature and two different ways of enlightenment.The communication discussion also revealed the significance of Lessing's promotion of a special heuristic and argumentative exchange.The communication exchange with the participation of the three partners is an attempt to express and correct many differences in the Enlightenment,reflecting the gradual change of thought in the mid-18th century.The second chapter takes Hamburgische Dramaturgie as the research object,discussed the issue of drama and enlightenment from the perspective of public life.First of all,the establishment and management of the Hamburg National Theater and the process and results of Lessing's criticism writing and publishing show the value and limitations of public theater activities.Secondly,from the perspective of the drama theory involved in the drama review,Aristotle's criterion is a main clue that runs through the entire Hamburgische Dramaturgie.And Lessing's critical method is to check the error and identify the truth.On the one hand,Lessing returned to the "On Poetics" understanding of tragic emotions,incorporated the dimensions of social justice into compassion and furcht.And he solved the motivation problem of the transformation of moral emotions into moral behaviors,and through appropriate purification in rationality and emotion.The publicity of tragic emotional enlightenment is reflected in its method and purpose.On the other hand,On Poetics maintains the ancient Greek life experience with "destiny" as the core,and is based on the finiteness of human beings.The ethical practice of Hamburgische Dramaturgie advocates that the drama plot revolves around authenticity and character,emphasizing the use of emotional effects to implement moral education,and the same way of conciliation not only upholds Lessing's belief in rationality as an enlightenment philosopher,but also highlights His reliance on emotional efficacy.His criticism and inheritance of British and French drama,his views on the boundaries of tragedy and comedy,and the discussion of civil tragedies,national dramas and many other issues can also be covered.In terms of the concept of drama as a whole,"On Poetics" aims to cultivate the correct emotional response of individuals,while Hamburgische Dramaturgie has obvious publicity.Thirdly,Lessing's drama practice is part of the rise of the public sphere in the 18th century.His commitment to cultivate "interest" to create German literature and shape German nationality,which is obviously different from Rousseau's understanding of the relationship between drama and public life.The third chapter studied Lessing's drama creation and enlightenment.In addition to the early creation of comedy works that tend to be satirical,Lessing has been committed to exploring suitable creative methods for serious theatrical themes in his middle and late stages.In terms of form,his most well-known achievement was the creation of the first civic tragedy,but then his dramatic creation was not fixed in this specific genre.From the very beginning,he continued to break through the limitations of comedy,tragedy and even civic tragedy.In the end,his creation is even a less strict type of drama——"dramatic poetry".Lessing's consideration and application of the form of the drama,which is an integral part of his overall thinking,serve his needs for exploring enlightenment issues and pursuing enlightenment ideals and truths.Through drama creation,he expanded the field of thinking from ridicule of surrounding affairs to all levels of family life,political state,religious history,etc.,and examined the enlightenment spirit and moral and ethical restrictive factors in the relationship between the individual soul and the world of experience.The form of truth also reflects on enlightenment from this.His thinking on enlightenment through drama creation can be summarized in the following three aspects:one is the conflict between the only objective truth and multiple values,the second is the understanding of the limits of human rationality and the value of empirical life,and the third is the form of truth and human education.Lessing's ideological crisis lies in both adhering to the truth and goals of the ideal of enlightenment and being aware of the invalidity of reason in empirical life.His overall understanding of the inherent problems of enlightenment and the relationship between drama and enlightenment is based on it.In his view,drama is the effective way for human beings to implement education at a low level of cognition.It will ultimately lead people to achieve moral perfection through emotional stimulation and through historical progress.The concluding part summarizes the full text,and further points out that Lessing's fundamental motivation for the exploration and creation of drama theory lies in his desire to discover and convey the truth,which can be embodied as the enlightenment and education of truth,humanity and drama.His drama theory and creative practice serve his overall vision of enlightenment education.