中国传统戏剧中女性形象的“他者”解读——以《赵氏孤儿》与《西厢记》中的女性角色为例

Different Interpretations of Female Images in Chinese Traditional Drama——Female Characters in The Orphan of Zhao and The Romance of West Chamber

本文选取了两部被西方世界熟知的中国传统戏剧文学作品《赵氏孤儿》和《西厢记》,比照两剧女性人物程婴之妻和崔莺莺在中西文化下的不同解读。18世纪,程婴之妻被墨菲塑造为集理性与正义于一身的古典主义“悲剧英雄”;时至20世纪,崔莺莺一改抗争与妥协的双面性格,成为哈特笔下带有现实主义批判精神的“女性斗士”。中国传统戏剧女性形象的“他者”文化解读根植于西方社会文化发展中的自我需求,这是跨文化戏剧社会文化本质属性的直接体现。这一认知对跨文化戏剧,以至世界文学的建构颇具价值,并且为女性主义文学批评提供了新的可能。

This article selects two Chinese traditional drama works which are well known in the western world, The Orphan of Zhao, and The Romance of West Chamber, for the different interpretations of two female characters, Cheng Ying’s wife and Cui Yingying in both Chinese and western cultures. In the 18th century, Cheng Ying’s wife was portrayed as a classical “tragic hero”, integrating rationality and justice. While in the 20th century, Cui Yingying changed her dual character of struggle and compromise, becoming a “female fighter” with realistic critical spirit. The interpretations of female images in traditional drama works from the other perspective is deeply rooted in the self-demand of western society, which directly reflects the sociocultural attribute of cross-cultural drama. This cognition is of great value to the construction of cross-cultural drama and world literature, and provides a new possibility for feminist literary criticism.