The Russian theatre has not been neglected in the studies on theatre history, literary criticism and dramatic arts. The paper attempts to have a look at the 1787 Drama Dictionary, the first theatre reference book publ...The Russian theatre has not been neglected in the studies on theatre history, literary criticism and dramatic arts. The paper attempts to have a look at the 1787 Drama Dictionary, the first theatre reference book published in the country （with a very long Russian title containing 35 words） as a cultural product of the Enlightenment Age produced by its representative. In the introduction to the dictionary the compiler says that the publication would help young people develop a taste for refined entertainment and reject violent leisure activities of the past, enjoy theatre and learn life moral lessons from it. He considers theatre as a powerful means of changing Russian society as has been demanded by the Enlightenment Age. The structural and sociocultural analyses of 1787 Drama Dictionary materials give us an insight into some ways of westernising Russian society through theatre and how this westernisation was reflected in the theatre terminology of the time. I have argued that Russian-European Relationships resulting in the westernisation of Russian theatre theory and practices went hand in hand with the Russian translation-adaptation of Western plays and adaptation of some Western cultural patterns of social thinking and behaviour without rejecting completely the national identity in newly-born Russian dramatic literature.展开更多
文摘The Russian theatre has not been neglected in the studies on theatre history, literary criticism and dramatic arts. The paper attempts to have a look at the 1787 Drama Dictionary, the first theatre reference book published in the country （with a very long Russian title containing 35 words） as a cultural product of the Enlightenment Age produced by its representative. In the introduction to the dictionary the compiler says that the publication would help young people develop a taste for refined entertainment and reject violent leisure activities of the past, enjoy theatre and learn life moral lessons from it. He considers theatre as a powerful means of changing Russian society as has been demanded by the Enlightenment Age. The structural and sociocultural analyses of 1787 Drama Dictionary materials give us an insight into some ways of westernising Russian society through theatre and how this westernisation was reflected in the theatre terminology of the time. I have argued that Russian-European Relationships resulting in the westernisation of Russian theatre theory and practices went hand in hand with the Russian translation-adaptation of Western plays and adaptation of some Western cultural patterns of social thinking and behaviour without rejecting completely the national identity in newly-born Russian dramatic literature.
