{"id":22,"date":"2016-05-09T18:07:59","date_gmt":"2016-05-09T18:07:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/13\/?p=22"},"modified":"2023-06-03T08:35:21","modified_gmt":"2023-06-03T08:35:21","slug":"who-would-notice-if-the-critics-disappeared-notes-on-criticism-from-a-chinese-perspective-and-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/13\/who-would-notice-if-the-critics-disappeared-notes-on-criticism-from-a-chinese-perspective-and-more\/","title":{"rendered":"Who Would Notice if the Critics Disappeared? Notes on Criticism from a Chinese Perspective and More"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kalina Stefanova<\/strong>*<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s our soul that would notice!\u201d a Bulgarian student of mine wrote once. I like to set my students the task to write an exam essay on this topic, and this is just one of the many striking answers that have been keeping my optimism about our profession alive. It may seem as if I start on too high a note, but here I will come with more reasons for optimism for those of us \u201cchildren of the world\u2014who\u2019ll never grow up,\u201d as the American George J. Nathan described theatre critics. All these reasons are to be found in the essays of the same title by the students of the esteemed Shanghai Theatre Academy where I had the privilege to teach last Fall.<\/p>\n

\"Shanghai
Shanghai Theatre Academy<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

They created a very rich mosaic of the responsibilities that critics have and of the voids that the lack of criticism would open\u2014a mosaic I will try to present. Here are the main groups who, according to the Chinese students, would be affected:<\/p>\n

The audience <\/em>because: \u201cit would not understand the profound social analysis, cultural meaning and political ambitions of the works\u201d; \u201cit would lose its orientation and would\u00a0be in chaos.\u201d<\/p>\n

The theatre-makers<\/em> because: \u201cthey would be in the blank\u201d; \u201cwould not know how their work is perceived.\u201d Most affected would be \u201cthose theatre-makers whose works are at variance with commonly held opinions because they most need the support of the critics.\u201d<\/p>\n

Theatre on the whole<\/em> because: \u201cthe only standard that would show the quality of works would be the level of applause and the audience is always very polite.\u201d Also: \u201cwithout criticism the audience would easily neglect the ideological and aesthetical value of the drama and would pursue emotional stimulus only; in turn their taste would influence the theatre-makers,\u201d so \u201cthe whole environment of the drama would change.\u201d<\/p>\n

We<\/em>\u2014society on the whole<\/em> because: \u201cwe\u2019d lose a branch which has both artistic beauty and argumentative nature\u201d; \u201cthe social problems would not be found, put forward, and solved.\u201d \u201cAll people who care for the theatre would notice, because criticism is an indispensable part of it.\u201d \u201cMany of us rarely pay attention to theatre critics\u2019 existence but if they disappeared people would feel lost.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other groups<\/em>: \u201ceditors\u201d; \u201cmanagers, who will have no critics\u2019 quotes to promote the shows\u201d; \u201cthe economy because critics are part of the cultural industry\u201d; \u201csociologists because they are looking for the impact of the theatre on society [which they find] from critics\u201d; \u201cstudents studying theatre because they would lose direction.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Students
Students who attended the class on criticism<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Here\u2019s a funny perspective for a change: \u201cthe audience would be a little happy because many are critics in their life.\u201d \u201cThe actors will be happy too because many critics are just engaged in theorizing and have no inspiring critiques about their work.\u201d<\/p>\n

Returning to a more serious vein, with two very optimistic viewpoints: \u201cIf the critics disappeared<\/em> is a pseudo-proposition; critics will continue to develop and become better and better.\u201d \u201cCriticism will never disappear, it will be alive because where there is theatre, there is theatre criticism sooner or later.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Wang
Wang Fei and Ye Peiln<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

And here are the promised higher notes:<\/p>\n

First, a beautiful sample of metaphorical language which is so important for criticism:<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the critics disappeared, various laughter and tears would be cheap at once.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And an essay in the form of a poem:<\/p>\n

\u201cIf there is no critic in our life, we will have 50% less beauty, 70% less goodness, and a 100% less truth.<\/p>\n

If there is no critic in our life, the sun will always rise but we will not be able to find its splendor, the river will always trickle but it will seem to have dried up.<\/p>\n

If there is no critic in our life, we are at risk of losing masterpieces or excellent works.<\/p>\n

If there is no critic in our life, the way to freedom of theatre will be broken.<\/p>\n

If there is no critic in our life, we can only understand the theatre by our own opinion.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Since this is the only full text I include, the name of the author, Pan Tian, should be noted.<\/p>\n

\"Pan
Pan Tian<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I should also mention that the form is not by chance here. One of the other tasks I set to the students was to write about theatre in the form of ancient Chinese four-line poems and, albeit it was a by-choice task, I was very happily surprised to see that many of the students did choose it and wrote beautifully at that. Moreover, they applied a poetic format to the other tasks too and did that with impressive imagination and a distinct writer\u2019s talent.<\/p>\n

In the same essays, the students gave some beautiful definitions of criticism. Altogether, they remind me of the fairy tale about that princess who did not like any of the candidates for a husband, but if the eyes of one of them were to go with the mouth of another and the nose of a third, etc., then at last there would be the ideal man to marry. So here\u2019s the mosaic portrait of the ideal critic and criticism with that difference from the fairy tale, that it could be achieved in reality.<\/p>\n

The critic is \u201ca doctor of the spirit,\u201d \u201ca truly caring person,\u201d \u201ca guide leading the audience through a maze. \u201dCriticism is \u201ca must,\u201d \u201ca magnifying glass, enlarging the splendid moments in a performance, exposing the shortcomings and helping the artists with feedback and assisting them in self-examination.\u201d It\u2019s \u201clike a rain for the theatre\u2019s growth.\u201d It \u201chelps link different groups in society,\u201d \u201cstirs debate on art topics,\u201d \u201cprovides active disagreement,\u201d and \u201cdefends high quality in the art.\u201d To be a good critic \u201crequires adequate skills in reasoning, research and communication.\u201d \u201cBeing a good critic is as hard as being a creator.\u201d The relationship between theatre-makers and creators is \u201clike a couple in love.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s amazing that to this rich portrait of the ideal critic and criticism more and more features could be added. I\u2019ll take the liberty to add a short contribution of mine.<\/p>\n

Criticism\u2019s role, to me, is very much like that of the Greek Chorus. It\u2019s neither a leading one, nor a supporting one. Yet it\u2019s one without which the action cannot go on in the right direction. It\u2019s both part of the action and its independent commentator. It\u2019s one of the means by which the stage communicates with the audience. Like a huge screen above the stage that shows the close-ups of what\u2019s happening on stage to those who are far from it. Like a portion of the audience let onto the stage. Finally, like the echo of the theatre that comes back to it, so that it could hear its voice the way the audience hears it.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m convinced that without criticism, theatre is like someone living without a mirror and relying only on the beloved ones to tell him\/her how one looks, and we know that the eyes of love are at times blind.<\/p>\n

The late American theatre critic Jack Kroll described in a beautiful way the mysterious effect of great art: \u201cMaybe they [people] have never read Ulysses, nevertheless, it has affected them. Maybe they [people] have never looked at Picasso, but he has changed their lives, whether they know it or not.\u201d<\/p>\n

And since great criticism is doubtless an art form too, which, like great theatre, has to capture \u201cthe life of the human spirit\u201d (Stanislavsky) and communicate it to the readers, why not suggest, indeed, that if the critics were to disappear, apart from everyone else, it\u2019s our soul that would notice it?<\/p>\n

\n

\"Kalina<\/p>\n

<\/a>*Dr. Kalina Stefanova<\/strong> is the author of 14 books, published in over 10 countries, and Full Professor of Theatre Criticism at NATFA, Sofia. She has been a Visiting Scholar\/Lecturer world-wide. She served as IATC\u2019s Vice President (2001-2006) and its Director of Symposia (2006-2010).<\/p>\n

Copyright \u00a9<\/strong> 2016 Kalina Stefanova
\nCritical Stages\/Sc\u00e8nes critiques<\/em> e-ISSN: 2409-7411<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

This work is licensed under the
\nCreative Commons Attribution International License CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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