在历史神化的碎片中穿行——霍华德·布伦《罗马人在英国》评析

作为战后英国戏剧第二次浪潮的主要人表人,霍华德·布伦(Howard Brenton)(1942-)以其经典作品《罗马人在英国》而著称,它反映了布伦顿在经历了七十年代政治理想的幻灭之后对英国历史文化的反思。在这部作品中,布伦顿用历史学家的目光,从非传统的角度出发,重新解读历史和它的神话,将颠覆和批判和矛头直接指向了英国的民族性。在他的笔下,两千多年的英国历史不再是一个演绎文明的过程,而是一个以征服为主题的暴力史:在这一主题之下,人们所看到的不再是文明车轮的滚动,而是奴役与反抗的交替和人类梦想的无限延宕。 

Howard Brenton: Shuttle through the Fragments of Historical Myth

As the representative dramatist in the Second Wave of the Post- War English drama, Howard Brenton is well- known for his masterpiece,The Romans in Britain. Decoding the British history from an unconventional perspective,the play launches its ruthless attack on the traditional views about British nationality, rereading its history and culture in a new way. In his work, the 2000- year British history is no longer an evolution of civilization, but a destuctive process of violence in which dreams get perpetuall...