英文摘要
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To adapt traditional opera to the concerns of modern society so as to maintain its popularity has been a general approach of contemporary dramatists. The newly revised Peking Opera The Golden Cangue employs a ”stringing-pearl” structure scheme to illustrate the life story of Cao Qiqiao, exploring an intricate female mentality and the restlessness of modern lives. Manipulation of the settings between the real/illusional and the synchronic/diachronic generates dramatic effects on stage. Though the adaptation strategy has mostly followed the traditional opera's histrionic formula, in practice, the play exhibits innovations derived from within.
In Eileen Chang's writings, one often finds rich visual details. However, the translation from words to stage performance has to be a recreation between different genres. The differences hence impose a change in representation. In this article, I analyze the narrative structure, stage design, and histrionic formula of The Golden Cangue. This critically-acclaimed play might not solve all the problems encountered in the modernization of traditional opera. It however gains symbolic importance and points to a specific and feasible path for others to follow.
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