A Chinese Intellectual’s Journey: Lin Shen’s adaptation of Daoban Fushide (The Pirated Faust 1999) by Lin Zhou A thesis presented to the University of Waterloo in fulfilment of the thesis requirement for the degree of Master of Arts in German Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, 2010 © Lin Zhou 2010 Author’s declaration I hereby declare that I am the sole author of this thesis. This is a true copy of the thesis, including any required final revisions, as accepted by my examiners. I understand that my thesis may be made electronically available to the public. ii Abstract This thesis has as its focus Daoban Fushide 盗版浮士德 (The Pirated Faust), a Chinese staging of Goethe’s Faust I and II, which premiered in Beijing in 1999. The research questions of the study are how the adaptation remains true and differs from Goethe’s original and how it addresses the expectations and cultural sensitivities of modern Chinese society. The first and second chapters provide a general context of the discussion. Chapter one reviews Faust reception in China, including the Chinese publication of Faust in translation, critical assessments of Faust by Chinese scholars, and theatre productions adapted from Goethe’s original. Chapter two outlines the history of Chinese theatre from the ancient rituals to traditional Chinese theatre as it survives in modern times. With the influence of western culture a new theatrical form, spoken drama, emerged in the early 20th century. The Pirated Faust is an example of modern Chinese experimental theatre. Chapter three, the main part of the study, provides a systematic analysis of this Chinese Faust adaptation from numerous perspectives, including an explanation and discussion of the title, storylines, a structural comparison to Goethe’s original, and an analysis of the adaptation’s use of language, themes, characters, and settings. My study demonstrates that this Chinese adaptation is a recodification of Goethe’s classic in the context of Chinese modern society, deeply rooted in Chinese cultural and historical background. However, it still maintains the thematic thrust of iii Goethe’s original. Another accomplishment of this study is a complete English translation of the Chinese text of the adaptation, the only in existence, which is appended to the thesis. It provides the opportunity for non-Chinese readers who have an interest in Faust in China and The Pirated Faust to do further research. The research and content of this thesis are the sole work of its author. Grammatical and stylistic assistance for its formulation in English was received. iv Acknowledgements Studying at University of Waterloo and writing my M.A. thesis have been a great experience in my life. It is a pleasure to thank those who made this thesis possible. First and formost, I would like to thank my supervisor, Dr. David G. John, whose encouragement, guidance, support, kindness, and tolerance from the initial stages until the end have enabled me to develop this interesting subject. I owe my deepest gratitude to him, for he spent a great deal of time and effort helping me to complete this study. Without his guidance it would not have been possible. I would also like to thank the readers and examiners of my thesis, Drs. Alice Kuzniar and Paul Malone. Special thanks go also to Rosa Wang who spent her precious time and helped me ensure the accuracy of my appended translation. Many thanks go also to my graduate program mentor, Dr. Grit Liebscher, who provided support when needed. Further thanks go to Dr. Mathias Schulze who provided me with the opportunity to enter the Department of Germanic and Slavic Studies and study in such a wonderful atmosphere. Last but not least, a big thank you to my husband, Tao Xu, my parents, Genfa Zhou and Hao Chen, others in my family and friends who always support and believe in me! v Table of Contents Author’s Declaration .……………………...………………………...……………….. i Abstract .…………………………………….……………………...……………... iii Acknowledgement .………………………………………………....……………... v Introduction .……………………………………………………...……………... 1 Chapter 1 Goethe’s Faust in China ……..……………………………………….. 7 Translations of Goethe’s Faust …………………………………………. 7 Critical assessments of Faust ……………………………………...… 10 Stagings of Faust ………………………………………….………...… 12 Chapter 2 Chinese Theatre ……………………………………………………… 15 History of traditional Chinese theatre ……………………...……….. 16 Modern spoken theatre …………………………………………………. 20 Western influence on spoken theatre …………………………………… 23 Chapter 3 Analysis of The Pirated Faust ……………………………………...… 26 Overview and comparison with Goethe’s original .…………………….. 27 Title of the adaptation ..…………………...…………………………… 35 Language ...……………………………………………………...……… 37 Themes .………………………………………………………………. 50 Characters ..…………………………………………………...…….. 54 Faust and Wagner ...................................................……………….. 54 Mephistopheles …...…………………………………………….. 57 Cabinet ...………………………….………...……………..…….. 59 Gretchen and Helena .………………………….………….….….. 60 No god, no spirits ..………………………………………………... 62 Settings of the adaptation …………………………………………….. 63 Eastern and ancient ………………………………..………….... 64 Western and modern …………….…………….………………… 68 Conclusion ..…………………………………………………………..………..….. 73 Bibliography ..……………………………………………………………..……. 76 Appendix: An English translation of Daoban Fushide 盗版浮士德 (The Pirated Faust) ……………………………………………………………………...….... 83 vi Introduction Introduction Daoban Fushide 盗版浮士德 (The Pirated Faust 1999) is a Chinese staging adapted from Goethe’s Faust. It was adapted and translated by Lin Shen1 (沈林) and directed by Jinghui Meng (孟京辉 1964-). The staging ran from Dec. 5, 1999 to Jan. 7, 2000 at the Beijing People’s Art Theatre (Beijing renmin yishu juyuan北京人民艺 术剧院) (Fan 28). Antje Budde claims that it was a long performance run for a Beijing theatre production (194), which seems to have been the case. Most dramas playing this season in Beijing lasted fewer than three weeks (“Beijing diqu quanbu yanchu”). The Pirated Faust was initiated by the Goethe-Institute in Beijing when its director, a Mr. Kempf (from the Chinese spelling) expressed his wish to see a Chinese adaptation of Faust on the 250th anniversary of Goethe’s birth. Director Jinghui Meng readily committed to doing it and Lin Shen agreed to assist him. Hence, a new Chinese Faust was produced, which brings Chinese audiences closer to Goethe and his Faust. The Pirated Faust played to full houses (Wei, par. 1; Piskol 18). Director Meng insisted that he was “simply one part of the creative process” and the success of the play was attributed to everyone who was involved in the performance, including actors, lighting engineers, and sound technicians (“Bootleg Faust”). The adaptor Lin Shen is a specialist in drama, having studied English at the 1 The Chinese name of the adaptor is actually Shen Lin (沈林), which is the reverse of my formulation in this thesis. In Chinese the family name “Shen” is written or spoken before the given name “Lin”. In the following Chinese names are reversed in the western style. 1 Introduction Beijing Second Foreign Language University. After graduation he went abroad and pursued his studies in England. He obtained his Masters degree and PhD from the Shakespeare Institute at Birmingham University in England and later worked as a researcher in the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington D.C. After returning to China he became a professor in the department of dramatic literature at the Central Academy of Drama in Beijing. He works now in the research institute of dramatic arts at the same university. Jinghui Meng is a young and leading director of the National Theatre Company of China (NTCC). He studied literature at Capital Normal University in Beijing and graduated with an MA in directing from the Central Academy of Drama in Beijing, which is regarded as one of the three most prestigious drama schools in China. Meng is one of the most prominent Chinese drama directors of recent decades in the field of experimental theatre. Since 1990 he has been active as a theatre director and has so far directed more than 28 plays. It is interesting to note that although Meng was educated entirely in China, his productions include not only stagings originally produced in China, such as Comrade Ah Q (A Q tongzhi 阿 Q 同志, 1996), I Love XXX (Wo ai chachacha 我爱 XXX, 1994), Rhinoceros in Love (Lian’ai de xiniu 恋爱的犀牛, 1999), and Beautiful Encounter (Yanyu 艳遇, 2007), but also plays adapted from western works, for example Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett (Dengdai geduo 等待戈多, 1991), Lay Down Your Whip, Woyzeck (Fangxia nide bianzi Wyicaike 放 下你的片子/沃伊采克, 1995) adapted from Georg Büchner’s Woyzeck, Accidental Death of an Anarchist by Dario Fo (Yige wuzhengfu zhuyizhe de yiwai siwang 一个无 2 Introduction 政府主义者的意外死亡, 1999), Love Is Colder Than Death by Rainer Werner Fassbinder (Ai bi si geng lengku 爱比死更冷酷, 2008), and most recently Don Quixiote (Tangjihede 堂吉诃德, 2009). Beyond being a drama director, Meng is engaged in the creation of dramatic plays, in film directing, and was in acting in his early years. Parts of the plays he directed were written by him as well. Meng’s first cinematographic work, Chicken Poets (Xiang jimao yiyang fei 像鸡毛一样飞) premiered in Beijing in 2002. In theatre circles, Meng is very popular and famous for his innovation. As an avant-garde drama director he is never satisfied with what he has done before. Within a climate of immature modern spoken theatre and experimental drama in China, Meng strives to develop new ideas in his plays, including settings which have never been employed on