On The "Revolutionary Model Opera" In The Contemporary

On the way of opera’s reformation, Modern Peking Opera creation is one of themost controversial topic in the theatrical community. As a representative of theModern Peking Opera—Revolutionary Model Opera, it is the product of therevolutionization and modernization of dramas, and the product of specific socialhistory and politics. There are lots of controversial judges on it in the academia.Based on the phenomenon of Model Opera Hot set off in the1990s and Mr. WangYuanhua reflection, the author tries to put forward her own understanding of thiscultural phenomenon from the perspective of contemporary acceptance.The preamble section of this article briefly illustrates the domestic researchabout Revolutionary Model Operas and the limitations of this study. On the basis ofthe previous analysis, the author takes Contemporary Acceptance and WangYuanhua’s reflection as the breakthrough points, to think about why old people likeWang Yuanhua, who love traditional Peking Opera, has so fierce criticism when theycome into contact with the Revolutionary Model Opera in contemporary society?What’s the difference between Revolutionary Model Opera and the traditionalthemes of the opera? Whether Revolutionary Model Opera has its own artisticexplorations? We will answer these questions in this article.The appearance of Revolutionary Model Opera cannot depart from itsfundament——Culture Context. On the one hand, the Revolutionary Model Opera isa product of that era and cultural context. On the other hand, the RevolutionaryModel Opera as a piece of history witness let the future generations to see the socialconditions of that time. The first chapter of this thesis elaborates the historical andcultural context which breeds the Revolutionary Model Opera. We first describe the"speech" spirit of Mao Zedong and the talk of Peiking Opera Reform by JiangQing,and the relationship between Modern Peking Opera and Revolutionary ModelOpera to record the born of the Revolutionary Model Opera, and then we discuss thedifferences between Peking Opera traditional themes and the Revolutionary ModelOpera political reform themes. Finally, we provide the attitudes of themes in the Model Opera by old people like Wang Yuanhua, who experienced the CulturalRevolution and by the persecution of the Cultural Revolution.The Revolutionary Model Opera as a political phenomenon has already beendenied. However, as a literary phenomenon, it should be criticized through historicaland aesthetic approach. Why the Revolutionary Model Opera can be reserved in thePeking Opera? Why it can survive under the huge criticism? In the second chapter,we explore the reform properties of the Model Opera and identify its contribution toPeking Opera. For example, with the basis of the traditional Peking Opera, theRevolutionary Model Opera use a single plot conflict, typed characters, popularizedlyrics and monologue, and a variety of music and dance forms leading the opera tothe public. And then we unscramble the reflects of forms of the Revolutionary ModelOpera by Wang Yuanhua, such as the forms of "Model Opera" are manipulated toomuch by the ideology, the produce of Model Opera contrary to general process ofartistic creation, and the Model Opera destroys the opera stylized approach.The third chapter is a reflection of the contemporary acceptance aboutRevolutionary Model Opera.Such as T.S. Eliot once said:“and the historical senseinvolves a perception, not only of the pastness of the past, but of its presence.”Therefore, when we study the Model Opera, we not only need to see its historicaland cultural context, its special mechanisms of the past, its innovations in the artisticform, but also need to pay more attention to the contemporary acceptance ofreal-life. So, in this chapter, we analyze the accepted condition of the Model Operaunder the present cultural context. We mainly discuss the differences between twogroups (the old people who experienced and suffered by the Cultural Revolution andthe current youth generation accepted attitudes and why this difference occurs. Afterthis discussion, we then explore whether the Model Opera still has its own vitality,and the answer of this question will make us have a justice study under the presentcultural context.