Find in Library

This article offers an examination of polyphonic technique in Gao Xingjian’s Wild Man (1985). The discussion of polyphony in this play has been predominantly focusing on parts delivered by the human voice. In Wild Man, however, polyphony entails many more sonic components than the human voice and manifests in a much more complicated fashion than interactions among human voices. In this article, I present the configuration of the world of sound in Wild Man, analyze sounds other than human voices as an active player in stage action, and argue that Gao’s overall musical image in this play is conveyed through the soundscape that the playwright constructs for us.