Category: Culture/Art
Problem Description:
Waiting for Godot, The Bald Showgirl is a representative work of ( ) drama.
1. Expressionism.
2. Existentialism
3. Symbolism.
4. Absurdist.
Who can explain? Introduce 1-4 categories
Analysis:
The two works you mentioned are both absurd dramas
Expressionism
Expressionism was an important modernist school in European and American literature from the early 20th century to the 1930s. It first started with painting, and then spread to music, poetry, drama, novels, and movies. Before and after the First World War, Germany became the center of Expressionism. By the 1920s, its influence spread throughout the Czech Republic, Russia, the United States and the Nordic countries, becoming an art school popular around the world. The term expressionism first appeared in 1901. It was the general title of a group of oil paintings by Julien-Auguste Hervé at the Matisse exhibition held in Paris at that time. It was used to indicate the relationship between works of naturalism and impressionism. the difference. In 1905, three young college students formed the first expressionist society "Bridge" in Dresden, Germany. In 1911, the German critic Walden published a painting review in the magazine "Horse", using the term "expressionism" for the first time, and emphasized the need to break through the external appearance of things, express the inner world, and use "expression" Instead of "reproduction", it highlights the most basic artistic characteristics of this genre. In the same year, a second Expressionist society, the "Blue Rider", appeared in Munich. After that, Expressionism entered the German literary world and a number of very influential writers emerged.
The origin of Expressionist literature can be traced back to the Swedish writer Strindberg (1849-1912). His plays such as "Ghost Sonata" (1907) put nightmares and ghosts on the stage, allowing dead corpses, phantoms, souls, and living people to appear at the same time. Most of the characters in the play are abstract characters, without even names and personalities, and the plot is incoherent. The development clues are not clear, and they all use grotesque ways to express ugly selfish desires and the deep sins and endless pain of the "madhouse"-like world. Strindberg is regarded as a pioneer and model of Expressionism.
The outstanding representative of Expressionist novels is Austrian Kafka (1883-1924). The representative of expressionist drama is Eugene O'Neill (1888-1953).
O'Neill is the most famous modern American dramatist and one of the world's outstanding dramatists in the 20th century. He has won the American Pulitzer Prize four times. He continued to experiment and explore throughout his life, and won the 1936 Nobel Prize for Literature for "the charm, sincerity and deep passion of plays that embody the traditional concept of tragedy" and is known as the founder of contemporary American drama. .
O'Neal had a rough life. He, his mother, and his brother traveled with his father's theater troupe since he was a child. They were homeless and experienced many hardships. He was admitted to Princeton University in 1906, but was expelled a year later for causing trouble. After dropping out of school, he worked as a secretary, went to Spanish Honduras to search for gold mines, went to Argentina as a clerk and worker, and even escorted donkeys to Africa. In 1911 he worked as a sailor on a British cargo ship, and after 1912 he worked as a journalist and poetry columnist. Later he wrote scripts and became a world theater star. O'Neill *** created 45 plays, "The King of Jones" (1920) and "The Hairy Ape" (1917) are the representative works of O'Neill's expressionism.
Expressionism advocates that artists should rely on subjective spirit to carry out inner experience and turn the result of this experience into a kind of ***. Expressionism often abandons detailed description and pursues the inner world composed of the deep "illusions" of things. The characters in the works often replace individual people with certain types of representatives or embodiments of some abstract essence.
Existentialist Literature
Existentialist literature originated in France in the 1930s and reached its peak of development after World War II. It is the most powerful and popular literary stream in modern literature all over the world.
Existential literature is closely related to existential philosophy. The term "existentialism" was proposed by the German scholar Heidegger (1889-1976). In the 19th century, the Danish philosopher Kierkegaard (1813-1855) began to study the problem of human survival (existence). He believes that human existence is a "synthesis of finite and infinite, temporary and eternal", that is, human existence in the world is limited and temporary, but human existence can realize the "unity of man and God", and the soul ascends to heaven after death. into the ground. It can be seen that life is existence, and death is also a kind of existence. Therefore, existence is infinite and eternal. He also believes that the only way for mankind to escape from real crises, absurdities, and pain is to convert to God and realize the unity of God and man. Since Kierkegaard's existential theory was formed under the inspiration of the Christian tradition, his existentialism is called Christian existentialism or theistic existentialism. Husserl (1859-1938) founded phenomenological existentialism. He inherited Kierkegaard's theistic existentialism and inherited Sartre's atheistic existentialism. Sartre is the master of contemporary existential philosophy. The contemporary popular "existentialism" actually refers to Sartre's existentialism.
The core of Sartre's existentialism is: "Existence precedes essence", "Free choice" and "The world is absurd and life is painful". This means: human existence comes first, and essence comes later. Coming to this absurd world, although it is extremely painful, it is not just waiting for death, but finding a way to survive through "free choice". Human beings do not have a predetermined "existence"; only acquired "choices" can create and reflect human beings' "essence". Existential literature is characterized by more rationality than imagery. Authors often use the form of literary works to promote existential philosophical theories. Characters written by existential writers are often unruly and do whatever they want, or they advocate "coming out of the world" and entrusting their survival to religion to escape from the absurd world (Kierkegaard's "Stages on the Road of Life"); A limited struggle against an absurd world (Sartre's "Death Without a Burial"); or one advocates a "chaotic world" and fights against an absurd world with absurd actions (Meller's "An American Dream").
"Absurdity" and "pain" are the basic themes of existential literature. Sartre's "The Wall" reveals the absurdity of the world: those who are innocent are executed; those who tease the enemy become enemies; those who are determined to die do not die; those who hide are caught; those who want to make fun of the enemy are caught by reality. tease. The relationship between people is just like the famous saying in "Confinement": "Others are hell."
In art, existential literature embodies philosophy in images, embodying the integration of "literature" and "philosophy" Features. Many novels by Sartre and Camus are the visualization of the existential philosophy of "absurd world, painful life"; Sartre's "situation drama" is mostly a philosophical illustration of "free choice". Existential literature uses various expression techniques eclectically, using both traditional and modern techniques. Sartre's famous plays "Death Without a Burial" and "The Obedient ***" are written with traditional realism techniques, "The Fly" has a strong symbolic color, and "Nausea" uses the stream of consciousness technique in many places. Camus's "The Stranger" adds modern techniques to traditional techniques.
Symbolism
Symbolism, which officially took off in France in the mid-1880s, was a reaction to the positivist philosophy represented by Comte and the naturalistic literature represented by Zola. of backlash. In the view of symbolists, positivism only knows how to mechanically demonstrate the causal relationship between actual things, while naturalism focuses on the influence of heredity and environment on the formation of human nature. None of these can reveal the essence of art. Symbolists advocated exploring the world of ideas hidden behind nature and creating supernatural art based on personal sensitivity and imagination. The ideas of Nietzsche, Freud and Bergson can be seen as the philosophical foundations of Symbolism.
Symbolists focus on describing personal phantoms and inner feelings in terms of subject matter, and rarely involve broad social themes; in terms of artistic methods, they deny empty rhetoric and blunt preaching, and emphasize the use of textured images and hints Create through the methods of , foil, contrast and association. In addition, symbolist literary works pay more attention to musicality and rhythm.
As an international literary trend, the development characteristics of symbolism in various countries and regions are different, which involves complex factors such as the national temperament, cultural traditions of each country, and the personal temperament of the writer. French symbolism is relatively pure, while British and American symbolism is relatively complex. Symbolist literature has the highest achievements in the field of poetry, and many of the greatest poets of the 20th century can be classified as symbolist poets. In addition, symbolism has also achieved certain achievements in the field of drama.
Theater of the Absurd
Theater of the Absurd is an anti-traditional drama genre that emerged in France in the 1950s and quickly became popular in other European and American countries. It has no complete and coherent plot, no dramatic conflict, the stage image is fragmented, and the characters' language is confusing. The world it represents is absurd, life is painful, and the relationship between people is incommunicable. Absurdism was named after "The Theater of the Absurd" written in 1962 by the famous British drama theorist Martin Asling (born in 1918). On May 11, 1950, Eugene Ionescu's bizarre one-act play "The Bald Showgirl" was staged in Paris. The performance stunned the only three audience members in the theater and quickly caused a sensation in the Paris theater. Some people Call it "a serious challenge to all traditional drama" and a "work of genius". The performance of "The Bald Showgirl" marked the birth of absurdist drama.
Ionesco is the founder of absurdist drama and a classic writer of absurdist drama. Born in Romania in 1912, his father is Romanian and his mother is French. His childhood was spent in France. He returned to Romania in 1925 because he hated the fact that the people around him were infected with fascist fanaticism like a plague. In 1938, he went to France to study French literature and settled in France. He often went to theaters and gradually became disgusted with dramas. He believed that traditional dramas were hypocritical clichés and that he should "break through the shackles of rigid 'traditionalism' and run towards freedom." He declared that drama is "a projection of inner struggle on the stage." ". Ionesco wrote more than 40 screenplays, mainly including "The Bald Showgirl" (1950), "The Future in Eggs" (1951), "The Chair" (1952), "Amadi or the Escape Technique" (1953), " "The New Tenant" (1953), "The Killer for Money" (1957), "Rhinoceros" (1958), etc.
Adamov (1908-1970), Jean Genet (born in 1910), Pinter (born in 1930), Edward Albee (born in 1928), and Beckett (1906-1989) are absurd Representative dramatist. Absurd writers believe that the world is absurd and life is meaningless. Therefore, the ugliness and terror of reality, the pain and despair of life, have become endless themes in absurdist works. "In a broad sense, the works and themes of absurdist playwrights are all about the abstract anguish psychology felt by human beings in absurd situations."
Absurd dramatists believe that "absurdity" is the essence of the world, and "irrationality" is the core content of dramatic expression. Therefore, their works deliberately break the traditional drama conventions. They have neither the concept of time and space nor the basic pattern of dramatic structure; they have neither distinctive characters nor exciting dramatic conflicts, but only a group of pitiful people who have been squeezed by the world. insect. These people behave absurdly and weirdly, speak confusingly, and their thinking is chaotic and illogical.
Absurd playwrights advocated "pure drama" and believed that "artists grasp the world through metaphor." Ionesco declared: "I try to externalize the awkwardness of my characters through objects, let the stage props speak, and turn actions into visual images... This is how I try to extend the language of drama." In this view of drama. Under the guidance, the props of absurdist drama bring the "intuitive art" characteristics of drama to its limit, producing a shocking and absurd effect.