阿索尔·富加德《火车司机》中的白人罪感与史诗剧元素.pdf

International Comparative LiteratureVol.6 NO.1（2023）：111-133DOI：10.19857/ki.ICL.20236106Copyright Shanghai Normal UniversityWhite Guilt and Epic Theatre Elements in Fugard s The Train Driver*阿索尔 富加德 火车司机 中的白人罪感与史诗剧元素木羽北京外国语大学MU YuBeijing Foreign Studies Universitym_Abstract：Athol Fugard is a well-known contemporary liberalist playwright in South Africa.His one-act play，The Train Driver，is a story about the guilt of a white train driver who accidentally hit a black woman who was committing suicide and his journey of searching the woman s tomb at a graveyard in the charge of a black gravedigger.The Train Driver is Fugard s most important piece in the post-apartheid era.It presents liberal whites sense of guilt，which is the ethical condition that whites cannot escape their conscience in face of the social injustices of apartheid，and continues the artistic expression of reaching reconciliation with reality through moral repentance.It also takes the form of Bertolt Brecht s“Epic Theatre”to reveal the historical predicament in New South Africa after the end of apartheid and then examines white guilt in the neoliberal context.This article focuses on form analysis，which is the“Epic Theatre”elements in The Train Driver.It tries to explain the change in Fugard s perception of white guilt in the post-apartheid era and why he chooses to take the form of an epic theatre to present it.The article shows how the monologue in The Train Driver presents white guilt，and then analyzes the setting of the dialogue，the prologue and epilogue and the alienation effect they create to prevent the audience from identifying with the white man and his guilt.Then，it further indicates the neoliberal issues involved in stage designs，such as the background of the cemetery，the dilapidated dwelling of the black gravedigger，and the sound effects，to demonstrate that the alienation effect of the theatrical form can arouse the audience to think rationally that the death of a black woman is not the fault of the white driver，but the result of the complex neoliberal reality.In this case，the white train driver still blindly bears the guilt，rather than *Submitted Date：Jan.1，2023；Accepted Date：Mar.14，2023.2023年第6卷 第1期国际比较文学国际比较文学INTERNATIONAL COMPARATIVE LITERATURElooking into the roots of the tragedy.The article reveals that，in The Train Driver，Fugard transcends his previous understanding of white guilt and changes the method of presentation.He realized that by merely acquiring a sense of guilt and ethical repentance，one cannot reconcile with the social reality.Due to the changes of the times，Fugard chooses the form of epic theatre to arouse the audience to explore the truth behind the phenomenon that the plight of black people has not been changed，thus urging the audience to reconsider the causes of the tragedy in the plight of neoliberalism and seeking a new path of racial reconciliation.Keywords：Athol Fugard；The Train Driver；white guilt；epic theatre；alienation；truth and reconciliationNotes on the Author：MU Yu is a PhD student in the School of African Studies at Beijing Foreign Studies University，majoring in South African Theatre Studies.Athol Fugard and His TheatreHarold Athol Lanigan Fugard（1932）is a South African dramatist，actor，and director who became internationally known for his profound penetration and pessimistic analyses of South African society during and after the apartheid.In 2011，Fugard received a special lifetime achievement award at the 65th annual Tony Awards.1 The committee that announced Fugard as the recipient of the award noted that“his work has always opposed racism and continues to promote the message of freedom and equality.”Fugard entered theatre in the late 1950s not long after the Nationalist government came to power and put into place the structure of apartheid，2 an oppressive and brutal system of racial discrimination.At the time，there did not appear to be any truly South African theatresones that spoke with the voices of all the country s people.3 As a white South African with a liberal conscience，Fugard had to shoulder his full share of a sense of responsibility for what was happening in the country.He gave portraits of life in Sophiatown through his observations in his apprenticeship play No-Good Friday（1958）and Nongogo（1959）.In 1960s，Fugard spent a lot of time in Port Elizabeth，4 once a dynamic place with a variety of races，cultures，and religions.But the National Party government started to implement a plan of residential segregation，5 and Port Elizabeth underwent a major resettlement of population and physical replanning of its city structure.Fugard s“Family Trilogy”（Blood Knot，Hello and Goodbye and People are Living There）and Boesman and Lena captured the change of population.Under the Population Registration Act of 1950，the population of Port Elizabeth was 1“Athol Fugard to Receive Lifetime Tony Award.”2 Donald Ellis,“Apartheid,”Israel Studies 24,no.4(2019):63.3 Sheila Fugard,“The Apprenticeship Years-Athol Fugard I