The Influence of Tretyakov’s play Roar, China! on Brecht
The Influence of Tretyakov’s play Roar, China! on Brecht

Summary/Abstract: The German writer Bertolt Brecht created several works in which Chinese motifs played a significant role. However, he was not interested in contemporary China; rather, he was interested in the artistic ideas and practices of Russia and the Soviet Union during the 1920s and 1930s. Sergei Tretyakov, a Soviet writer and literary theorist who introduced Brecht to these concepts, was also a China specialist. He likely influenced Brecht’s works concerning China. Notably, Brecht’s play The Measures Taken, set in China for the first time, bears striking similarities to Tretyakov’s play Roar, China!, which premiered to great acclaim in Germany in 1930 — the same year that Brecht wrote The Measures Taken. Keywords: Bertolt Brecht, Sergei Tretyakov, The Measures Taken, Roar, China!, Germany-Russia ideas transfer.The German writer Bertolt Brecht created several works in which Chinese motifs played a significant role. However, he was not interested in contemporary China; rather, he was interested in the artistic ideas and practices of Russia and the Soviet Union during the 1920s and 1930s. Sergei Tretyakov, a Soviet writer and literary theorist who introduced Brecht to these concepts, was also a China specialist. He likely influenced Brecht’s works concerning China. Notably, Brecht’s play The Measures Taken, set in China for the first time, bears striking similarities to Tretyakov’s play Roar, China!, which premiered to great acclaim in Germany in 1930 — the same year that Brecht wrote The Measures Taken.

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