历史·审美·真实:论戏剧《维纳斯》 的观众接受效应

History Aesthetics Reality: Audience Reception to Venus

获得奥比奖的戏剧《维纳斯》是苏珊·洛莉·帕克斯的名剧,从观众接受角度进行研究能有效揭示戏剧文学的传播镜像和文化意义。《维纳斯》的文本接受者主要是非裔美国人,其接受效应彰显了历史意识,指向历史的铭记和生存的反思;“维纳斯秀”的接受者涵盖历史上的真实观众和剧中的舞台群演,折射了维多利亚时代的审美悖反观念,即生理渴望与社会规范并存;《维纳斯》戏剧表演的接受者主要是剧场的观众,他们对主人公形象和演出设计等颇有微词,其接受效应指涉了历史真实和审美创造之间的差异价值。研究《维纳斯》的接受效应有益于重估该剧的文学价值和历史地位,并为帕克斯戏剧研究提供了一种新的视角。

The play Venus,one of Suzan-Lori Parks’most famous plays,earned her a second Obie Award for playwriting.Research from the perspective of audience reception effectively reveals the proliferation and cultural significance of dramatic literature.Readers of the play Venus include the playwright herself and African Americans,whose receptions highlight the historical consciousness,pointing to the memory of history and the reflection on survival.Audiences of the Venus show contain the historical audience of the real Venus show and the onstage characters portrayed in the Venus show in Parks’play,demonstrating the Victorian paradox of aesthetics,that is,physical desires coexist with social norms.Audiences of the stage performance of Venus consist of the theatre audience,who felt uncomfortable at the portrayal of the main character Saartjie and the design of the production;their reception indicates the difference between historical reality and aesthetic creation.The audience reception to Venus contributes to the re-evaluation of its literary value and historical status and provides studies on Parks’plays with a new perspective.