The oral-formulaic theory applied to Henghwa puppet theatre performing texts in Singapore

• Main Author: 谢汶亨 Chia, Caroline Boon Han
• Other Authors: Crossland-Guo Shuyun
• Format: Theses and Dissertations
• Language: Chinese
• Published: 2013
• Subjects: DRNTU::Humanities
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/53622
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

本文旨在探讨木偶戏表演文本的口语特征，所分析的文本是目前仍然在上演的剧本。两部文本都属于“新和平” 的剧本，而 “新和平”是目前在新加坡最后一个兴化木偶戏班。这两部剧本相信是从中国福建省莆田市带到新加坡的，但其创作年代和作者依然无法考证。笔者最初发现了文本中出现不少重复的词汇和短语，便采用了帕里-洛德的口头一套语理论来进行文本分析，试图从中找出诸如套语组词和套式主题的口语特征。 本文希望通过这方面的研宄，解答木偶戏文本是否属于“源于口头传统的文本” 或 简称 “ 口传文本” 这一核心问题。此外，通过口头一套语理论分析，我们也能够了解到口头演唱者在没有文本或文字背诵的情况下，如何通过口头表演的创作形式，完成一场表演。由于两部所要分析的文本都是至今仍在上演的剧本，笔者也通过实地考察、观察和访谈的方式收集第一手材料，并从中了解文本对于木偶师、社群和其宗教活动所起的作用。 This study aims to explore the oral features of the performing texts of Chinese puppet theatre. To understand the prosimetric function and oral elements of the repertoire of puppet theatre, an in-depth study will be conducted on two extant performing texts that belong to Sin Hoe Ping, the only surviving Henghwa puppet troupe in Singapore.1 These scripts are believed to have been brought over from Putian in Fujian, Southern China, to Singapore and are regularly used in live puppet performances. Parry-Lord's oral formulaic theory will be applied to identify possible formulas and themes that may be present in these texts. It is hoped that through this study, an examination of whether these texts are oral-derived in nature and the compositional style of the performer can be deduced. As these performing texts are still in use today, information collected from observation and fieldwork done at the performance milieu will also be included to explore the function of these performing texts on the Henghwa performer, the community and religious festive occasion at large.