Beyond simple nostalgia: Nostalgic design on the stage of modern Chinese drama

Abstract

Nostalgic design, which was the design related to nostalgia, became more and more popular in China, especially in Chinese theatre, since 1990s. Somehow, design studies seemed indifferent to this important phenomenon. In order to explore the nostalgic design in Chinese theatre in systemic and comprehensive ways, the paper developed a methodology called scenography semiotics, which derived from theatre semiotics and covered all stage design elements during theatre communications. Applying the methodology to a representative modern Chinese drama, Boundless Love, the paper revealed that the nostalgic design did not mechanically copy the past; on the contrary, by adapting various kinds of traditional Chinese art, including traditional Chinese painting, poetry and opera, it artistically presented an integral traditional Chinese aesthetic and utopian space. Confronting the audience with such a space in theatrical ways, the nostalgic design effectively bridged the past and the present, and aroused critical reflections on the present.