Journal of Shanghai University (Social Science Edition) ›› 2013, Vol. 30 ›› Issue (6): 40-54.

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LaoShe's"Taskdriven"TheoryandHisLaterDramaCreation

  

  • Online:2013-11-15 Published:2013-11-15

Abstract: InthecourseofwritingFangZhenzhuandrespondingtocriticalopinionstothework,LaoShe
begantoembraceanewtheoryofliterarycreationinthelaterphaseofhiscareer.DragonBeardDitch(Longxu
Gou)hasbeensubjecttotheinfluencepoliticalleaders,includingeventhetoplevelones,fromthemomentof
itscompositiontothetimewhenitreceivedwidespreadacclaims.Tomeetpoliticaldemands,LaoSheventured
tohandleunfamiliarsubjectmatters.DragonBeardDitchwascreatedobviouslyinamodedifferentfromFang
Zhenzhuandthereforemarksthewriter'stransitionintothelaterphaseofhiswritingcareer.Thesuccessof
DragonBeardDitchinthenewmodehelpstoshapeLaoShe's"taskdriven"theoryofliterarycreation,which
canbesummarizedasfollows:thethemeisdeterminedfirst;thesubjectmatterdetermineshowtowrite;exem
plarycharactersshouldbepraisedandglorified.HisrevisionofSpringBlossomandAutumnFruit(Chunhua
Qiushi)demonstratesthetypicalmodeofdramaproductioninthe1950sand1960s:thescriptishighlypoliti
cal,strictlycontrolledbyrulesandregulations,andcomposedbythethreecombinationmethod,andthescript
hastoberepeatedlyrevisedinaccordancewiththechangesofpolicy.Thismodeofdramaproduction,inLao
She'stimes,waswidelyemployedattheprovinciallevelandalsoincitiesandtowns.However,LaoShe'slater
dramaswouldinevitablysufferfromsuchatheoryofcreation.HisworksafterDragonBeardDitchgenerally
failedtoreachthestandardofhisearlierachievement.Thedepressedwriterwasthenbroughtbackbychance
tohisfamiliargroundandproducedTeahouse(ChaGuan),hisowntourdeforceandalsoamasterpieceinthe
historyofChinesedrama.ButthequalityofhisworksdeclinedagainafterTeahouse.In1961,LaoShestopped
totreatrealistsubjectmatterandthe"taskdriven"theorythatheonceembracedturnedouttobeadisappoint
ingfailure.LaoShe'slatercreationexemplifieshowdramaswereproducedinthathistoricalperiod,andhow
the"taskdriven"theoryofcreationemergedandthenfadedoutofhistory.Ontheotherhand,italsoshows
howmuchanartisthadtosacrificeandhowdifficultitwastoproduceamasterpieceintimeswhenpolitics
dominatedallspheresofsociety.
  

Key words: LaoShe, taskdriven, laterdramacreation

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