La nueva estética de la ópera revolucionaria china a partir de la comparación entre El pabellón de las peonías (1598) y La linterna roja (1964)

Laburpena

The thesis has been explained in a series of blocks that have been taken according to their topic, concept or content. The first block intends to create the historical basis for supporting the rest of the thesis, i.e., it is portrayal of the political, or historical, and social events that marked the times prior to and during the production of the revolutionary opera. In this part we shall understand why did they take place like they did, by the hand of the one that was persecuted by the government. Moreover, in this framework we place the plot of the operas, quoting real characters and events that would end up becoming a part of some of the same. This block begins briefly with the fall of the Qing dynasty and the revolutionary moments that triggered it. What follows it a detailed analysis of the first republic (1912-1949) with all its internal conflicts that began appearing: the Japanese occupation, colonialism, the relations of the communist party with Guomindang, etc. Below we analyse the early years of communism in the peninsula till the end of the cultural revolution (1976), period in which the revolutionary opera died away. All the explanations come out of this part that on one hand made way for this aesthetic in opera and on the other hand the real framework of events that fed the operas with content. The second block is divided into three different parts. The first part is a closeness to the true reality of Chinese opera from Tang dynasty to the era of the cultural revolution (when these works were the literary climax of the communist propaganda), passing through all the different eras and dynasties (Song, Jin, Yuan, Ming, Qing, and the Republic of China). Here special attention is given to all that occurred in each one of the stages, given that in every time the opera evolved grew thanks to diverse forms and influences. In the second part we can find an elaborate explanation of particularities that make Chinese opera what it is and not something else; here important aspects like space, public, different roles of characters in the opera, kinesics, proxemics, makeup, dress, music, prosodic elements, scenography or props, among others. Thus, it constitutes an essential part of the thesis in order to carry out a comparison with new communist aesthetic. In the third and the last part, a brief but necessary revision of the most important typology of opera is done, most important varieties and most used rhythms, the advent of new formats et al are explained. This second block of the thesis constitutes the central theoretical body upon which the rest of the chapters will be based. The third block is a deep and elaborate study of the traditional opera from the texts of the Ming era, The Peony Pavilion. First, a brief reflection on the author and his time, and then the argument of the work is analysed. Next, a section is devoted to study of all the characters: lovers (Du Luniang and Liu Mengmei), parents (Du Bao and Zhen Shi), tutor (Chen Zuiliang), the Taoist nun (Chui Hong), the servants (Chunxiang, the hunchback Guo and the Crusty Turtle) and, finally, other characters that appear and are important in the work. After this analysis of the characters, their forms, their attributes... an exhaustive analysis is done on the predominant themes in the plot of The Peony Pavilion. In the text we have studied tradition and decorum, traditional marriage, the standards of feminine beauty, the role of women in the Ming era, the evocation of the Tang past, the treatment of dreams and death, sexuality, magic and the supernatural, the treatment of foreigners and wordplay used. This thematic study will be very important in contrast to that of the revolutionary operas, where themes that appear are all of a revolutionary communist nature. This chapter also pays special attention to the treatment of kinesics and proxemics in traditional opera and the use of costumes. Finally, the block closes with a study of the musical dimension present in The Peony Pavilion and, by extension, in traditional opera. The fourth block —perhaps the central one of the theses— deals with the typology of revolutionary opera, which means, the characteristics and details that made it what it was. To do this, the study takes as an example The Red Lantern, a masterpiece of the Cultural Revolution that brings together each and every one of the key changes that Jiang Qing—and his group—tried to do with the Opera. After briefly analysing the plot of the play, the chapter delves into outstanding characters, among which grandmother Li, switchman Li Yuhe (or revolutionary hero, in the words of the era), Li Tiemei (the young revolutionary generation) and the antagonist Hatoyama (evil incarnate; the Japanese invaders) stand out. As in previous chapter, in this one the following topics are analysed: the new revolutionary ideas (or the revolutionary gospel), the new concept of the family, the role of women in the workers' struggle, the importance of the mission, the betrayal in The Red Lantern, the meaning of revolutionary death, allusions to events of the recent past, the treatment of foreigners and, also, some puns (which would have nothing to do with the difficult ones of the past). This part already shows how current themes have changed and many of those that appeared in traditional opera have simply ceased to exist. Likewise, kinesics and proxemics, the makeup and costumes of the characters that appeared, as well as the theatrical space will be studied. Finally, an exposition of the musical change introduced in the communist opera by elimination, foreign influence and communist tastes is made. In the fifth block, we take on the great challenge of making a comparative study of both works, where everything is compared point by point with what we studied in the previous chapters in this thesis. The points that are dealt with here are, among others, about authorship and origin of the works, about the plot threads, about the characters and their attributes, about the treatment of kinesics and proxemics, on the use of makeup and costumes, on the scenic space, the conception aesthetics and the musical dimension, on the representability, the message and the purpose of the works. Here the purpose is clear, in addition to the contrasting methodology used between traditional opera and revolutionary opera, it is about pointing out why it was done that way, how it was prepared to be spread as propaganda, what elements were used to reach the public... To go on unravelling everything and ending with some final conclusions that amalgamate the general idea of the thesis: indeed, revolutionary opera was conceived as a Marxist-Maoist propaganda element to indoctrinate almost an illiterate lot of people. The sixth block is one of the strong points of the present work, as it shows a series of unpublished plays translated into Spanish; of the total count of yangbanxi, The Red Lantern (红灯记), Shajiabang (沙家浜), Red Detachment of Women (红⾊娘⼦军) and The White-Haired Girl (⽩⽑ ⼥) have been translated for the present study, which constitutes an unparalleled approach to this period of Chinese opera history in Spanish. The seventh block of the thesis has been conceived as a kind of added element that needed to be presented, but which by its nature could not form part of the central body of theory. Here the attached items are a political map of China, the dynasties of China, the soviets created by the Communist Party and the Long March, a political map of China in 1945, traditional theatres, the main roles of the opera, the main traditional kinesics movements, the main musical instruments, the most important varieties of opera, the main revolutionary kinesics movements, the propaganda posters, the original works, revolutionary works, and some of their translations, among others. Due to the eminently visual aspect of the thesis, it has been necessary to include this chapter of addendum where all these drawings and illustrations, made entirely by hand are added. The last block is aimed at organising the extensive bibliography necessary for the thesis, starting from the original texts of revolutionary opera, studies carried out on some topics, about propaganda, history, opera…