Frontiers of Theatre Studies
FTS, Vol. 1, No. 1, 2026, pp.91-101.
Print ISSN: 3106-8073; Online ISSN: 3106-8081
Journal homepage: https://www.ftsjournal.com
DOI: https://doi.org/10.64058/fts260110mctrw
中介与转译：留日知识分子对西方戏剧的接受——以日本新派剧为媒介
王 聪（Wang Cong）, 赖泽科（Lai Zeke）
摘要：本文聚焦二十世纪初留日知识分子如何以日本新派剧为中介，接受并转化西方戏剧，从而催生中国现代话剧雏形的跨文化进程。研究发现，这一接受并非直接移植，而是在民族救亡的迫切诉求下，通过“西方-日本-中国”的双重文化过滤完成的。留日学生因特定的历史契机接触新派剧，后者本身即为日本对西方戏剧进行选择性吸收与本土化改造的产物，在形式、内容与精神上为前者提供了可操作的范本。中国知识分子通过剧场观摩、文本研习与直接师承等路径，有选择地吸收了新派剧所转译的西方戏剧元素，其接受呈现出强烈的中介性、功利性、实践性与创造性误读的特点。这一过程不仅为春柳社的诞生奠定基础，也从根本上塑造了文明戏作为过渡样式的混合形态与启蒙导向，奠定了中国话剧现代化转型的独特起点。
关键词：留日知识分子；日本新派剧；西方戏剧；中介；转译
作者简介：王聪（通讯作者），讲师，广州商学院外国语学院，研究方向：戏剧传播、英国小说。电子邮箱：wangcong201612@163.com。赖泽科，助教，广州商学院外国语学院，研究方向：翻译、跨文化研究。电子邮箱：1195265025@qq.com。
Title: Mediation and Cultural Translation: The Reception of Western Drama by Chinese Intellectuals in Japan—Taking Japanese Shinpa Theatre as the Medium
Abstract: This study focuses on the cross-cultural process in the early twentieth century whereby Chinese intellectuals studying in Japan adopted and transformed Western drama through the mediation of Japanese Shinpa Theatre, thereby giving birth to the embryonic form of modern Chinese spoken drama. The research finds that this reception was not a direct transplantation but was accomplished through a dual-cultural filtration of “West-Japan-China,” driven by an urgent demand for national salvation. Due to specific historical circumstances, Chinese students in Japan came into contact with new school drama, which was itself a product of Japan’s selective assimilation and localization of Western drama, providing the former with an operable model in form, content, and spirit. Through theater observation, textual study, and direct mentorship, Chinese intellectuals selectively absorbed the Western dramatic elements translated through new school drama. Their reception exhibited strong characteristics of mediation, pragmatism, practicality, and creative misinterpretation. This process not only laid the foundation for the birth of the Chunliu School, but also fundamentally shaped the mixed form and enlightenment orientation of Civilized Drama as a transitional style, establishing a unique starting point for the modern transformation of Chinese spoken drama.
Keywords: Chinese intellectuals in Japan; Japanese Shinpa Theatre; western drama; Mediation; Cultural translation
Author Biographies: Wang Cong (Corresponding author), lecturer at School of Foreign Languages, Guangzhou College of Commerce. Research interests: drama dissemination, English fiction. E-mail: wangcong201612@163.com. Lai Zeke, teaching assistant at School of Foreign Languages, Guangzhou College of Commerce. Research direction: translation, cross-cultural studies. E-mail: 1195265025@qq.com.
Received: 22 Apr 2025 / Revised: 27 Apr 2026 / Accepted: 07 Jun 2026 / Published online: 30 May 2026 / Print published: 30 Jun 2026.
