The Chinese Classical Drama In The 20^th-century Britain

The circulation of Chinese Classical Dramas in the 20th-century Britain is being perceived as a culturally bountiful and prolific landscape in the history of Sino-foreign literary and cultural communications, as witnessed by the numbers of British Sinologist's efforts in the translations of Chinese theatrical works of art and theoretical researches, the impact of which can also be felt from the role played by certain Chinese theatrical elements in the 20th-century British Drama's experimentations and explorations. For example, the "Black Comedy" by Peter Shaffer's presentation of darkness through lighting and adoption of liberal stage conventions are fine testament to this acceptance of influence, as, if of any worth, the well-known connections between Edward Gordon Craig and the legendary Peking Opera figure Mei Lanfang. In consideration of all of these facts, an in-depth intellectual probe into the relationship is of manifest merit, especially in view of previous Chinese mainland scholars'somewhat unsatisfactory attempts due to lack of hard historical data. Therefore, this paper hereby is dedicated to a systematic, profound comparative literary study of the Chinese Classical Dramas' circulation in the 20th-century Britain on the basis of the analysis of extensive historical materials available home and abroad.Among the whole three chapters in this paper, the first of which endeavors to give an overview of the translations of Chinese Classical Dramas in Britain of that period, from the perspective of these translated works' hybridity states in the country, a scrutiny of the British translators'motivations and a close texts reading help to reveal the diffusion patterns of their cultural messages. Based on a possession of extensive British scholars' raw research materials, following a standard comparative literature study paradigm, a clearer picture of the British scholars' research results on the Chinese Classical Drama, including their studies of its history, subgenres, thematology and theatrical theories shall be the aims of the second chapter. The third chapter mainly devotes to a review of the acceptance of the Chinese Classical Drama in the country of that age from two aspects:its corresponding characteristics with the British theatrical explorations and innovations in the 20th century, and Craig's drawing of nourishment from this source. With devoted efforts to a systematic, integrated review of their translations, introductions and researches in the 20th-century Britain, this paper strives to define the whole path, and further more, the cultural, social and historical roots of Chinese Classical Dramas'spreading and acceptance under the guidance of a paradigm comparative literature study.