Art Theory of Opera Drama Series

Author: Meng Fansen / Country: Mainland China
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 1999-11-01
Features: Since opera television dramas are a fusion of opera and television, and since this art form exists within the atmosphere and space of television culture, it has acquired a dual comprehensive ability. This dual comprehensive ability, on one hand, inherits the comprehensive ability of opera art. It can be said that the comprehensive methods, approaches, and content of opera art are entirely applicable to opera television dramas in general. The reason why opera television dramas need to make choices regarding these elements is due to their own needs. The comprehensive ability inherited from television by opera television dramas is much broader. It allows this comprehensive approach to transcend the limitations of artistic genres and styles, incorporating various art forms such as film, theater, poetry, literature, music, and art, as well as different styles and schools, into a unified artistic whole. The Sichuan opera television drama The Good Person of Szechwan leaves a deep impression in this regard. In this work, not only is there an organic integration of opera and theater, but it also forms a style and harmonious artistic whole that unites opera, theater, and television. This work also employs Brecht's "Verfremdungseffekt" (alienation effect) and cinematic techniques such as freeze frames and close-ups, which are skillfully blended into an artistic symphony based on the combination of freehand and realistic styles. In this work, we can feel that opera television dramas have not only acquired a rich variety of expressive methods and means but have also opened up a broad expressive space, which undoubtedly holds great significance for the development of opera television dramas. At the current stage, due to the relatively short time of artistic practice in opera television dramas and the fact that some directors and writers are still bound by traditional opera models in their minds, many opera television dramas show in their comprehensive ability. They linger too much on and in the stage performance of opera, daring not to boldly develop the comprehensive characteristics of television, which ultimately leads to a self-imposed confinement.
IV. Aesthetic Characteristics of Opera Television Dramas
In the previous chapters, we explored the influence of television culture and opera culture on opera television dramas. From this, we can see that due to the dual cultural background of opera television dramas, their artistic characteristics also clearly exhibit a dual nature. This duality is precisely the important mark of this art form. It should be noted that the artistic characteristics we summarized above do not fully reveal the aesthetic characteristics and principles of this art form but rather the relevant system of aesthetic principles in opera television dramas. These principles primarily manifest in the external characteristics of opera television dramas. To grasp the artistic essence of opera television dramas, it is necessary to reveal the aesthetic principles that underpin their construction, as it is precisely these principles that determine the systemic quality of this art form. This systemic quality or defining characteristic is not only the core of its aesthetic value but also the fundamental mark that distinguishes it from other arts. Especially for opera television dramas, which have a dual cultural background, their unique mode of generation comes from the innate hereditary influence of both paternal and maternal lineages, which can easily lead people to mistakenly believe that it does not possess an independent aesthetic character. This misconception actually denies the value and rationality of this art form, and the harm it poses to the survival and development of opera television dramas is self-evident. To explore the aesthetic characteristics of opera television dramas, it is necessary to start from two premises. If these premises are not acknowledged or approached from these starting points, then the aesthetic characteristics of opera television dramas would be meaningless.
The first premise is that opera television dramas must be recognized as screen art. In other words, it is necessary to acknowledge that they are a new variety of television art. Some may argue that this is not an issue, or that whether opera television dramas are recognized as screen art is not important. In reality, this is not the case. To date, the status and value of opera television dramas as a new form of television art have not been recognized and acknowledged by many people. In the eyes of some, they are essentially no different from stage opera dramas, at most merely a stage performance that has found a new medium of dissemination. Therefore, whether opera television dramas are recognized as screen art not only involves the issue of understanding the nature of this screen art but also directly relates to whether it can be understood from the perspective of screen art in terms of its aesthetic characteristics.
The second premise is that opera television dramas must be recognized as a product of the combination of opera and television art. This product is neither opera nor a television drama but a new variety of television art. If we acknowledge this premise and always approach this art from this starting point, we will be able to grasp its unique aesthetic construction through the dual characteristics of opera and television. For the sake of clarity, we divide the aesthetic characteristics of opera television dramas into two levels: external morphological characteristics and aesthetic principles, and explain them separately.
1. Morphological Characteristics
① Cross-genre Nature of Artistic Form
From the perspective of artistic form, opera television dramas can be seen to exhibit dual characteristics of television and opera. In other words, the artistic form of opera television dramas is in a marginal state between television and opera. It is well-known that the artistic form of television dramas itself has a clear cross-genre nature, with the influence of television and theater being particularly evident in this art form. The emergence of this phenomenon is a very natural artistic occurrence. For various modern art forms, their mode of generation or approach often indicates a new synthesis of existing art forms. The formation of opera television dramas follows this same principle, with the difference being that it achieves a new synthesis on the basis of a screen art that has emerged from synthesis, and the content it synthesizes are two art forms that are distant in both nature and age. This distant hybridization often gives people a sense of unexpectedness and incomprehension, yet this is precisely the advantage of this art form. Although both opera television dramas and television dramas exhibit cross-genre nature, the connotations of these two cross-genre natures are different. From the perspective of artistic genres, the cross-genre nature of television dramas primarily manifests as the dual influence of film and theater. From the perspective of the art form itself, the different artistic styles included in this art form also exhibit cross-genre characteristics, such as news-oriented television dramas and documentary-style television dramas. The cross-genre nature of opera television dramas has only one level of meaning, namely the combination of opera and television dramas to create a new artistic variety. In this new variety, at least currently, there has not yet been a differentiation of different styles and formats as seen in television dramas; if there are any style differences in opera television dramas, they primarily manifest as differences in the musical aspects of the opera genres. It must be emphasized that the cross-genre nature of opera television dramas has not only led to the inclusion of this art form within television dramas as a variety or style but has, instead, allowed it to stand on equal footing with television dramas and possess an independent character. From an external perspective, the similarities or similarities between opera television dramas and television dramas are very obvious, such as their belonging to screen art and having the same medium of dissemination. There is also no significant difference in the format of episodic broadcasts or structural principles. Through this external similarity, we can further see their familial relationship, which is most evident in the narrative style and artistic vocabulary of opera television dramas. If the visual language and shot composition are the main markers of television dramas, then opera television dramas also rely on and follow these basic principles of screen art. The fundamental difference between traditional opera stage dramas and opera television dramas lies in this. It is often said that opera television dramas are the televisionization of opera. This statement, if used to explain the mode of generation of opera television dramas, is neither scientific nor comprehensive; but if it is used to explain the similarities between opera television dramas and television dramas or the influence of television dramas on them, then it is undeniable.