异教遗产与剧场隐喻:古罗马与中世纪的theatre与drama考辨

Pagan Heritage and Theatrical Metaphors:“Theatre”and“Drama”in Ancient Rome and the Middle Ages

本文从词义流变与思想史的角度考察theatre与drama从古罗马至中世纪的发展脉络。Theatre的拉丁语源theatrum(剧场)来自古希腊语θ?ατρον,这一概念随着古罗马人吸收希腊式戏剧而进入拉丁语,并发展出与古罗马政治生活相契合的用法;drama(戏剧)同样来自古希腊语(δρ?μα),但古罗马人往往用更古老的拉丁语词(如fabula、ludi)而非drama来表示戏剧。随着基督教的兴盛,拉丁教父们对以theatrum为代表的表演文化大张挞伐,这一传统一直延续至中世纪。在中世纪基督教的语境下,theatrum通常特指具有负面含义的“古代异教戏剧及剧场”,drama则成为特定的修辞学术语,两个概念均不指中世纪流行的宗教戏剧等剧种。在批判和拒斥戏剧文化的同时,一些古罗马与中世纪的基督教神学家也发现了戏剧形式与基督教神学之间的结构相似性,theatrum也从具体的戏剧空间发展出了“世界即剧场”的隐喻含义。总体而言,在本文研究的这段历史时期,戏剧本身与其相关概念逐渐受到主流思想的排斥,但戏剧形式内在的哲学性也令其保留了生命力。

This article examines the development of “theatre” and “drama” from ancient Rome to the Middle Ages in terms of semantic changes and the history of ideas. the Latin origin of “theatre”,“theatrum”, comes from the ancient Greek θ?ατρον, a concept that entered Latin as the Romans absorbed Greek theatre and developed usages that fitted in with the political life in ancient Rome;“drama” also comes from ancient Greek(δρ?μα), but the Romans tended to use the more archaic Latin words like “fabula” and “ludi” for plays rather than “drama”. With the rise of Christianity, the Latin Church Fathers criticized the performance culture represented by “theatrum”, which was a tradition that continued into the Middle Ages. In the context of medieval Christianity, “theatrum” often referred specifically to “ancient pagan theatre”, which had a negative connotation, and “drama” became a specific rhetorical term, neither of which referred to the popular religious drama in medieval. While critiquing and rejecting theatre culture, some Roman and medieval Christian theologians also identified structural similarities between theatrical forms and Christian theology, and “theatrum” developed the metaphorical meaning of “the world as theatre”. Overall, during the period of history studied here,theatre itself and its related concepts were gradually rejected by mainstream thought, but the inherent philosophical nature of theatre also kept its essence.