抄録
In his autobiographical writing and elsewhere, Derek Walcott acknowledges a Japanese influence on his early drama, associated with his youthful study in New York, but critical attention to this episode has been limited. It is possible to establish with some confidence what works he probably encountered: above all the films Ugetsu and Rashomon, the texts of the nô play Eguchi and perhaps some others, and secondary materials about Japanese theater. For a short period this Japanese archive visibly affects setting, atmosphere, and the use of literally dead or figuratively haunting characters in his plays. It also shapes two aspects of the plays about which Walcott was much concerned at the time: characterization and acting style. The notion of “creole” as opposed to “classical” acting that Walcott was formulating to develop a distinctively West Indian theater unexpectedly draws upon his limited exposure to Japanese culture, as does the seemingly very Caribbean notion of the “race containing symbol” explored in characters like Chantal and Makak. Analysis of the impact of these works on his own early plays (especially Ti-Jean and his Brothers, Malcochon, Dream on Monkey Mountain), enables us to describe more fully what he learned (or did not learn) from Japanese artists, how he employed what he learned in his own plays of this period, and what his objectives were.
