The Orphan of Zhao, 赵氏孤儿, Adaptation of the Original Play of James Fenton
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Treball de fi de màster Acadèmic The Orphan of Zhao, 赵氏孤儿, Adaptation of the Original Play of James Fenton Nom i Cognoms Jiayu Geng Màster： Estudis de Traducció Edició: 2019-2020 Director: Dr. Enric Gallén Miret Any de defensa: 2020 Collecció: Treballs de fi de màster Departament de Traducció i Ciències del Llenguatge Abstract The objective of this academic work is to analyse The Orphan of Zhao, James Fenton's proposal, based on the original work of the classical Chinese theatre, and also to compare the concepts of western and eastern tragedy, which can explain the changes and modifications made by this English playwright. To approach, in our opinion, an adaptation of the original work, notions such as translation, rewriting, version and adaptation are evaluated and the typology of Fenton's creation is analysed. This work also exposes the characteristics of this adaptation regarding the tragic ending, the additions of plot and action, the aesthetic alterations, the thematic changes, the ideology and the language. Finally, the study addresses the tragic model assumed by James Fenton in his adaptation. Keywords: The Orphan of Zhao, James Fenton, dramatic translation, adaptation, tragedy, classical Chinese theatre Resumen El objetivo del presente trabajo académico es analizar The Orphan of Zhao, la propuesta de James Fenton, basada en la obra original del teatro clásico chino, y comparar asimismo los conceptos de tragedia occidental y oriental que pueden explicar los cambios y las modificaciones realizadas por el dramaturgo inglés. Para abordar, según nuestra opinión, una adaptación de la obra original, se valoran nociones como translation, rewriting version y adaptation y se analiza la tipología de la creación de Fenton. Este trabajo expone también las características de dicha adaptación en lo concerniente al final trágico, las adiciones de trama y acción, las alteraciones estéticas, los cambios temáticos, la ideología y el lenguaje. Finalmente, el estudio aborda el modelo trágico asumido por James Fenton en su adaptación. Palabras clave: The Orphan of Zhao, James Fenton, traducción dramática, adaptación, tragedia, teatro clásico chino Contents 1. Introduction ................................................................................................................ 1 2. Objective and hypotheses .......................................................................................... 2 3. Theoretical framework ............................................................................................... 3 4. Analyse ....................................................................................................................... 4 4.1. Introduction of The Orphan of Zhao (The Orphan)......................................... 4 4.2. The History and Evolution of the Story of The Orphan of Zhao ..................... 5 4.2.1 Synopsis of The Orphan of Zhao ............................................................ 5 4.2.1.1. The Records of the Clan of Zhao in Chunqiu ............................. 6 4.2.1.2. The Account in Zuo Zhuan ......................................................... 7 4.2.1.3. The Hereditary House of Zhao in Shiji ....................................... 8 4.2.1.4. The Orphan of Zhao, Play of Ji Junxiang .................................... 9 5. On Tragedy............................................................................................................... 10 5. 1. Aristotelian Tragic Theories .......................................................................... 10 5.2. Classical Chinese Tragedy ............................................................................ 12 5.2.1. Chinese Traditional Tragedy’s Happy ending and the Poetic Justice .. 12 5.2.2. The Tragic Hero of Classical Chinese Tragedy ................................... 14 5.2.3. Didactic Function of Traditional Chinese Tragedy .............................. 15 5.3. Shakespearean Tragedy ................................................................................. 16 6. The Orphan of Zhao: “Pure Tragedy” or Not?......................................................... 18 7. The Typology of James Fenton’s work: Translation, Rewriting or Adaptation? ..... 19 8. The Adaptation of James Fenton .............................................................................. 24 8.1. Organization of acts ....................................................................................... 27 1 8.2. The characteristics of the adaptation of Fenton ............................................. 28 8.2.1. A Proper Tragic Ending ........................................................................ 28 8.2.2. Additions of Plots Following Shakespeare’s Exposition ..................... 28 8.2.2. Aesthetic alterations ............................................................................. 29 8. 2.3. Changes of Theme and ideology in the original play ......................... 33 8. 2. 4. Language ............................................................................................ 36 Conclusion ................................................................................................................... 38 Bibliography ................................................................................................................ 40 Annex ........................................................................................................................... 44 2 1. Introduction In this thesis I will analyze James Fenton’s adaptation of the original play The Orphan of Zhao for Royal Shakespeare Company in 2012. What drives me to choose this play is that I want find out better ways of introducing an alien cultural invention to a new target culture, and how to realize the reception of an exotic cultural product. In the field of cultural reception exists many problems: the interaction is quite inequivalent. One example, and the focus of my thesis is the area of theatrical arts. There is no doubt that Western drama takes care the major proportion internationally, from ancient Greek drama to Shakespearean dramas to numerous modern dramas. Bare attention has been spared to oriental dramas, but this does not mean that they do not deserve appreciation. On the contrary, Asian theatrical art, in the case of my thesis, Chinese drama has a long and prosperous history no inferior than Western drama. The quantity is enormous and quality is very high: there are numerous plays of numerous versions, and classical Chinese idioms are of its own aesthetic. More specifically speaking, classical Western tragedy has its theorical base in Aristotle, Hegel and Shakespeare; traditional Chinese tragedy doesn’t have a strict standard for the dramatic construction, and it has a preference for a less tragic ending and burdens a special didactic function. Besides, for oriental and occidental cultures are distant both geographically and ideologically, the cultural collision will bring advantage for both. For the source culture, their excellent theatrical works presented in a broader stage, and the essence of their culture is appreciated for more audience; for the target culture, the audience will receive a quite distinct experience in the theatre, and there will even be a cultural collision and a reflection for their own. The interlacement of intercultural theatres may give birth to new creations, a hybrid of both cultures. As for the term hybrid has been mentioned, then I need to discuss the specific process of adaptation. No matter for which culture, before the introduction of their own classic overseas, the essential and most question is that: is the original theme kept and how much is kept. In many occasions, the “adaptor” 1 uses the alien classic as an instrument to fulfill his own new purpose, which can be quite biased from the original theme, and this is not helpful for cultural exchange: it wears an exotic mask, but it is still its own face underneath. The reason why I choose the production of Fenton as the object of my thesis is that compared to many other recreations of Chinese plays that are introduced into Western theatre, his adaptation is quite unique: he managed to make his work with a satisfactory reception among modern Western audience and being faithful to the original play at the same time: he fellows traditional Chinese theatrical idioms and keeps its spirit. There are mainly three categories of bibliography that helped me organize this thesis: first, documents about the Chinese tragedy The Orphan of Zhao; second, bibliographies about classical Western and traditional Chinese tragic theories; and third, documents that introduce notions of translation, rewriting and adaptation. 2. Objective and hypotheses The first objective of this work is to find out the typology of the production of Fenton: it is a translation, a rewriting or of an adaptation the Yuanqu xuan version of The Orphan of Zhao? After searching and reading many theories and interviews of the playwright, it is reasonable to say that James Fenton’s work is an adaptation and not a rewriting nor recreation of the original play. Then, what are the principal characteristics of this adaptation? What is the tragic theory or theories he followed? As a Western playwright that is influenced deeply by Aristotle’s principle of tragedy and knows very well about Shakespearean tragic tradition, he modified the original into one that corresponds more to Western standard for tragedy. But which is the most approaching model: the Aristotelian or the Shakespearean? Then,