Modern Chinese Literature in Translation 1911 1990 Cao

Modern Chinese Literature in Translation (1911 -1990) Cao Yu and Cannon of Modern Chinese Drama

A Pop-up Quiz on Thunderstorm n n n What are relationships among Ssu-Feng, Chou Ping, and Fan-Yi? Where was Chou Pu-Yuan educated? How was the play ended?

Cao Yu n n n Cao Yu; 曹禺 1910 -1996 Born in Hubei, educated in Tianjing & Beijing, deeply influenced by western play writers, such as: Ibsen, Galsworthy, Gorky, Chekhov, Shaw, O’neill, Euripides and Aeschylus. Preformed Nora in college. Thunderstorm, 1934, published in Literary Quarterly (founded by Zheng Zhenduo & Jin Yi); staged in Jinan, Shanghai, Tokyo, and Nanjing (1936, Cao himself as the leading role). Film Adaptations in Hong Kong & Shanghai. The most famous and most performed drama. Contribute to the popularization and consolidation of theater genre in China. Other works: Sunrise & Wilderness

Thunderstorm; 雷雨 n What drama is it? q q q Psychological drama: incest; repressed sexuality; generational revolt Political drama of class struggle: miner strike Old-fashioned melodrama: predestined fate, coincidence; bloody revenge.

Various Reading on Thunderstorm n A political reading? q n Symbolic characters and scenes? q q n Left-wing critics like to emphasize the elements of class struggle: the poor are morally superior to the wealthy corrupted by them; exploiters are a doomed class in history’s inevitable advance Lu Dahai; epitomizing the radical politics of the era Taking medicine: Chou Puyuan’s callousness; a symbol of hypocritical compassion of Confucianism. A feminist reading? q q The persistence of patriarchy Women lost their lovers, families, and sanity