초기 중국영화 내러티브 연구-문명희(文明戲) 대본과의 관계를 중심으로-

Abstract

During the modernization period of China, the inflow of western ideology and the reversal of roles in the traditional four classes of society (scholars, farmers, artisans and tradesmen) greatly changed not only China’s society but also its cultural environment. Chinese films, in its earliest stages, were also deeply influenced by previous art narratives such as literature as well as foreign films. Chinese Opera (戲曲) is a traditional Chinese performing arts and has enjoyed a broad public support for hundreds of years. During the period of modernization, Traditional Chinese Opera became a new means to enlighten the citizens and appeared as a new form called ‘Wenming Xi’(文明戲), influenced by ‘Hundred Days Reform’(維新運動) and the ‘New Culture Movement’(新文化運動, May Fourth Movement). As a newborn art, early Chinese films were forced to turn their attention to the already systematized traditional art, which was Chinese Opera. Thus Chinese films went from <The Battle of Dingjunshan 定軍山>(Qingtai Ren, 1905), the first Chinese film that recorded a Chinese Opera performance, to <Die for Marriage 難夫難妻>(Shichuan Zhang, 1913), the first drama film that embraced ‘Wenming Xi’ which involved enlightenment philosophy, and ended the early period of film in the late 1920s, proceeding to the era of modern films. In the transition period from feudal society to modern society, ‘Wenming Xi’ captivated the public audience with its social enlightenment characteristics. The early films also embraced ‘Wenming Xi’ multi-dimensionally, including aspects of scenarios and ideology, as a means to secure the audience. The first drama film of 1913, <Die for Marriage> was largely influenced by the narrative of Wenming Xi, as it was the first narrative of Chinese films. This writing divides the earliest influential Chinese films into three phases, namely, “Chinese Opera film era”. “Wenming Xi film era” and “Mandarin butterfly film era”, and analyzes characteristics and the interaction between the text of the play script and the film of the Wenming Xi film era. Especially, it aims to understand the narrative characteristics of early Chinese films, focusing on the ‘desires of a character’, ‘enlightening speeches’ and ‘conclusion’.