The Influence of the Bertolt Brecht System on Traditional Chinese Theater

Introduction. The article is devoted to the phenomenon of modern Chinese theater and aims to explore the ways of its evolution – from imitation of European avant-garde forms of theatrical art to the formation of an original artistic language. An important goal is also to identify the factors that have determined the unique aesthetic and meaningful characteristics of modern Chinese theater. Methodology and sources. As a result of the application of the comparative analysis method, the article compares the theatrical concepts of Ibsen, Stanislavsky and Brecht, which influenced the image of modern Chinese theater. Result and discussion. The special role of the European theatrical avant-garde is shown, namely, the concept of Brecht's dialectical drama, which became widespread in China at the end of the XX century. Over a twenty-year period (from 1959 to 1979), three so-called “Brecht booms” took place in China, radically transforming Chinese traditional theater. However, despite the high popularity of Brecht's ideas, the Chinese Theater did not turn into a literal translator of the European avant-garde, but formed its own artistic style based on traditional structures of audience perception. The key role in this process was played by the national cultural context – socio-political and mental – which determined the specific forms of adaptation of the cultural meanings of the European theater. The history of Chinese avantgarde theater lasts for more than forty years and began in the early 1980s. After experiencing a period of direct borrowing, Chinese theatrical figures came to rethink the European heritage in the context of their own culture. As a result, it was the middle path of Chinese theater development that turned out to be the most productive – a path that absorbed the outstanding artistic ideas of Stanislavsky and Brecht, the modern Western avant-garde, but also without rejecting traditional artistic principles. This is how Chinese theatrical culture has developed with its own unique style. Conclusion. The 20th century became the era of the interchange of Eastern and Western theatrical traditions, which largely shaped the world cultural landscape, in which the interaction of Brecht's theory and traditional Chinese culture forms a special topos.

Authors: Xu Jiawen, Larisa P. Morina

Direction: Philosophy

Keywords: Bertolt Brecht, K.S. Stanislavsky, Chinese National Theater, avant-garde, “alienation effect”, dialectical drama, philosophy of culture, aesthetics

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