From Realistic Drama to Aesthetic Theatre: Yu Shangyuan's Translation and Knowledge Production (1921-1927)

This thesis examines Chinese dramatist Yu Shangyuan's theatrical view between 1921 and 1927 through the lens of translation studies. In the period of dramatic penury, Yu Shangyuan took the Beijing drama circle as his base and brought riveting ideas to modern Chinese theatre. I argue that Yu Shangyuan's early writings under the façade of original compositions contain many unmarked translations. Throughout Yu Shangyuan's early artistic career, translation serves as an approach to internalizing Western dramatic knowledge, a tactic to garner scholarly recognition and a conduit to impart theatrical ideas.Through an in-depth analysis of Yu Shangyuan's translations, this research unveils that Yu Shangyuan's early theatrical engagement has shifted from realistic dramaturgical practices to aesthetic theatrical experimentations, with the attempt to proffer an alternative to realism for the progress of modern Chinese drama. An examination of Yu Shangyuan's translations published in the first two years of his career shows that Yu Shangyuan enshrined the realistic approach in dramaturgical practices. In August 1923, Yu Shangyuan went to the United States, where he authored nineteen articles collectively entitled "Qinxian." An analysis of the unmarked translations in "Qinxian" discloses that Yu Shangyuan turned to theatrical practices and championed an anti-realistic aesthetic paradigm. After returning to Beijing in May 1925, Yu Shangyuan began to promote the aesthetic paradigm by launching the National Theatre Movement, during which Yu Shangyuan and his comrades conducted various translation activities to demonstrate the viability of the aesthetic theatre, including translating theoretical discussions in Theatre Supplement (Jukan), presenting stage designs in Drama Special (Xiju tehao), and adapting Karel Čapek's The Makropoulos Secret. In February 1927, Yu Shangyuan left Beijing for Shanghai due to the threat of political persecution, marking the end of his Beijing theatrical endeavors. Thereafter, very few of Yu Shangyuan's works were translations.A detailed delineation of Yu Shangyuan's early artistic trajectory unearths that the progress of modern Chinese theatre is not linear and homogeneous but intricate and multipronged. Meanwhile, Yu Shangyuan's coated translations yield new insights into his mode of knowledge production, which renders a fresh approach to the historical reevaluation of the text and the author.本文以翻譯研究為切入點，考察余上沅1921年至1927年間的戲劇思想。在戲劇發展初期，余上沅為中國劇場帶來許多重要的思想。研究表明，儘管余上沅早期的作品多被視為原創，但其中實則包含大量翻譯。翻譯其是內化西方戲劇知識的方法，獲得學術認可的策略，以及傳播戲劇思想的渠道。通過分析余上沅的翻譯，本文勾勒出余上沅從寫實戲劇到唯美劇場的研究軌跡，揭示出余上沅試圖為中國現代戲劇提供一條不同於與寫實主義的發展路線。分析余上沅最初兩年的翻譯表明，余上沅當時倡導的是寫實主義戲劇文學。1923年8月，余上沅赴美留學，期間發表共十九篇總題為"芹獻"的文章。通過研究"芹獻"中未被標記的譯文後，我們發現，余上沅此時轉向倡導反寫實的唯美劇場。1925年5月回到北京後，余上沅發起了國劇運動宣傳唯美劇場。為了證明唯美劇場的可行性，余上沅與運動諸人開展了諸多翻譯活動，包括在《劇刊》上發表翻譯的西方劇場批評，在《戲劇特號》上刊登西方舞台設計和介紹，以及翻譯卡雷爾·恰佩克的《馬克羅普洛斯的秘密》。1927年2月，政治壓力迫使余上沅離開北京前往上海。此後，余上沅的作品中很少有翻譯。對余上沅早期戲劇活動的研究表明，中國現代戲劇的發展不是線性的、同質的，而是錯綜複雜的、多角度的。同時，我們發現余上沅作品中存在的大量翻譯，這為認識余上沅的知識生產模式提供新視角，也為重新審視文本和作者提供了新的方法。LI, Jiawei.Ph.D. Chinese University of Hong Kong 2021.Includes bibliographical references (leaves )Abstracts in English and Chinese.Title from PDF title page (viewed on ...