A Study On The Adaptations Of The Visit In China

The Visit is one of the classic works of the German-language writer Friedrich Dǜrrenmatt,who was born in Switzerland.It once caused a sensation in the world theater because of its grotesque style,amazing dramatic effect and profound cogitation.It has been adapted into many forms such as film,TV series,stage play,musical and so on.This thesis focuses on the intercultural adaptations of The Visit in China,including their processes,effects,motivations and logics.Simultaneously it’s a good way to examine the intercultural phenomena in Chinese drama,and put forward some suggestions according to the history of Chinese drama in recent 40 years.The thesis consists of three parts: introduction,body and conclusion.The introduction summarizes the performance history of The Visit,briefly reviews the research results about Dǜrrenmatt and this play,and points out the research method and significance.The main body consists of four chapters.Based on case study method,with the characteristics and the history of drama taken into consideration,representative adapted works are selected.And then their adaptation strategies,implicit logics and adaptation contexts are analyzed in the first three chapters.Research found The Visit(1982)performed by Beijing People’s Art Theatre,Yong Opera The Ancestral Temple(2005),and Huangmei Opera The Visit of the Old Lady(2012)construct a city of illusion,a village of ethics and a city of desire respectively,and convey the cultural values of the adapters.With the exploration of poetic philosophy,the review of traditional culture and the criticism of consumer society,its innovative attempts including the reformation of drama performance forms,the fear of drama’s future and the integration of different types of drama show that under the "Drama Crisis",Chinese theatre has transformed from ignorant imitation to intentional innovation,which contributes to drama’s deviation from the original work and adaptation to the local culture.Chapter 4 summarizes the problems reflected in the adaptations from a macro perspective: the conflict between Eastern and Western cultures and the changes in the expected horizon,which led to misreading,misappropriation and imagination of The Visit in China.And on this basis the author puts forward some suggestions on intercultural theatrical adaptation: Firstly,a focus on "interculturality",we are supposed to overcome dualistic thinking and make sure the adaptations are made on the essence of the original work.Secondly,the implementation of "extrapolation strategy",we ought to deal with the audience’s expectation horizon in the process of adaptation,and take the initiative to move from local culture to multi-culture properly.Thirdly,"a good Chinese story teller",we should ensure the adopted works not only highlight local characteristics,but also meet the needs of the times,spread the voice of China,show the image of China.The conclusion summarizes the main points of this thesis.Each adaptation has completed the localization with the setting of relational context,the transformation of character image and the integrated use of stage performance method,etc....It fulfills their respective demands and jointly they have shaped the looks of Chinese theater for more than 40 years.But the exposure of cultural communication problems are still worth pondering.Chinese theater and even Chinese culture still have a long way to go before they become world known.