Welcome to Francis Academic Press

Academic Journal of Humanities & Social Sciences, 2023, 6(21); doi: 10.25236/AJHSS.2023.062118.

Study on the dissolution of the Third Estate and the Discovery of Man - Take Brecht's "The Three-Cent Opera" as an Example

Author(s)

Yunxi Luo1, Peiyu Yuan1, Qingyu Li2

Corresponding Author:
Yunxi Luo
Affiliation(s)

1University of Macau, Macau, 999078, China

2Renmin University of China, Suzhou, Jiangsu, 215123, China

Abstract

Since the beginning of Western culture in the ancient Greek period, there have been numerous propositions about the "ultimate meaning" of the human self and the value of life. Western culture, rooted in the question of human beings, has been permeated with the anxiety of various definitions of "self" and the hope of falsifying the definitions through a certain "third force" in a specific era, in which the subjective consciousness and the embodiment of human nature are more important than ever. The subjective consciousness and the embodiment of humanity are even more important. However, if we trace this proposition back to its origin, does the "third force" have an unshakeable authority? Can its authority truly define what human beings are? If the "third force" is dissolved, will mankind make new discoveries about its own life? This project aims to discuss the relationship between the "third force" and the ultimate meaning sought by human beings by taking the example of "The Three-penny Opera" written by the German writer Bertolt Brecht. At the same time, literature has always been called "anthropology", and with the deepening of global multicultural exchanges, China will be more influenced by Western culture, in the contemporary era of materialism and money worship, it is increasingly important to think about the survival of human beings, the meaning of human beings, and the value of human beings. Today, when humanistic feelings are generally in trouble, the study of anthropology is invaluable. This shows that the in-depth study of anthropology also has essential practical significance for the development of our country. This research topic takes Brecht's Three-Cent Opera as the analysed text, and draws on the original language version, the Chinese translation version, as well as the adapted film version and the opera version, in order to analyze this topic in depth. At the same time, this project adheres to the basic theory of Marxism as a guide, while absorbing modern critical methods such as archetypal criticism and discourse narrative, making obvious innovations to previous research methods and concepts.

Keywords

Brecht, Three-Cent Opera, German Literature, Western Culture, "Third Force", A Human Meaning

Cite This Paper

Yunxi Luo, Peiyu Yuan, Qingyu Li. Study on the dissolution of the Third Estate and the Discovery of Man - Take Brecht's "The Three-Cent Opera" as an Example. Academic Journal of Humanities & Social Sciences (2023) Vol. 6, Issue 21: 105-111. https://doi.org/10.25236/AJHSS.2023.062118.

References

[1] Norton Dan S., Rushton Peters, Abrams M. H. A Glossary of Literary Terms. College Composition and Communication, 1957, 8(4):125. 

[2] Potamias Spyros, Mandilara Iro. Art and reification: Georg Lukacs’ critique on Brecht. Critique, 2022, 50(2-3):365-390. 

[3] Yarrow Ralph. Book Reviews: Stephen Brockmann (ed.): Bertolt Brecht in Context. Journal of European Studies, 2022, 52(2):150-153. 

[4] Brecht, B. Die Dreigroschenoper. Suhrkamp Verlag am Main, 2019. 

[5] Brecht, B. J. Willet (transl). Brecht on Theatre. London: Methuen Drama, 1978. 

[6] Bracker Nicole. The Signifier as Siren—Kafka, Brecht, Joyce and the Seduction of the Text. Intertexts, 2022, 4(2):166-203. 

[7] Collenberg Plotnikov Bernadette. "book-review" The Art of Hegel’s Aesthetics. Hegelian Philosophy and the Perspectives of Art History. Hegel-Studien, 2018. 

[8] Collins Sarah. The Operatic Roots of Performativity: Bodies Decontextualised in Butler, Brecht and Busoni. Cambridge Opera Journal, 2022, 34(3):309-337. 

[9] Kelly M. Estrangement, epochē, and performance: Bertolt Brecht’s Verfremdungseffekt and a phenomenology of spectatorship. Continental Philosophy Review, 2020, 53(4). 

[10] Kim Hyung Lan. A Study on ‘Defamiliarization Effect’ of “Jiangnanhaoren”Focused on Tran sformation of Brecht's Epic-. Journal of Chinese Humanities, 2018, 70:149-172. 

[11] Michael H. Kater. Kurt Weill: The Threepenny Opera by Stephen Hinton, and: Alban Berg: Lulu by Douglas Jarman (review). Modern Drama, 2013, 35(3):483-484. 

[12] Taimur Kayani, Arbaayah Ali Termizi, Wan Roselezam Wan Yahya, Ida Baizura Bahar. Politics of Staging Capitalist Society in Transcultural Adaptations of Brecht’s The Threepenny Opera by Ajoka Theatre in Pakistan. International Journal of Applied Linguistics and English Literature, 2018, 7(3): 23-34.  

[13] Huaxin Huang, Yuhang Li, "Metaphorical Description and Model Description of Complex Systems", Computational Intelligence and Neuroscience, vol. 2022, Article ID 3094010, 8 pages, 2022. 

[14] Tingting Wang. The Development of Intelligent Optimization Algorithm Art and the Competition Cooperation and Win-win of Natural Protection Environment. Nature Environmental Protection, 2022, Vol. 3, Issue 4: 69-77.