Abstract This article explores the reconceptualisation of the opera Carmen as a cinematic adaptation of George Bizet’s eponymous opera (1873–1874), situated within an African context. The change in culture and context affects the interpretation of the character Carmen, who emerges as a strong black woman striving for autonomy within a patriarchal and sexist postcolonial South African society. The argument is based on an interpretation of identity as a social construct dependent on the interaction between character and place within a specific period of time – in this context Khayelitsha, a township on the outskirts of Cape Town at the beginning of the 21st century. Film director Mark Dornford-May’s and musical director Charles Hazlewood’s portrayal of the modern Carmen as an emancipated woman within a postcolonial / postmodernist context could be traced by interpreting semiotic signs and specific narrative strategies – as found in literature and cinematic texts. The re-encoding of Carmen’s identity in U-Carmen eKhayelitsha questions intransigent or stereotypical perceptions of Carmen as the iconic femme fatale to which audiences have become accustomed. The indigenised production offers recourse to alternative perceptions of Carmen’s identity. U-Carmen eKhayelitsha does not deny the sensuality and femininity attributed to Carmen in the precursory texts, but it depicts Carmen as an even more complex character than the one depicted in Bizet’s opera.

中文翻译：

---

相同但不同：在 U-Carmen eKhayelitsha 中重新编码身份

摘要 本文探讨了歌剧《卡门》的重新概念化，该歌剧改编自乔治·比才 (George Bizet) 的同名歌剧 (1873-1874)，位于非洲语境中。文化和语境的变化影响了对卡门这个角色的诠释，她在南非父权制和性别歧视的后殖民社会中成为一个努力争取自治的坚强黑人女性。该论点基于将身份解释为依赖于特定时间段内人物与地点之间相互作用的社会建构——在这种情况下，Khayelitsha 是 21 世纪初开普敦郊区的一个小镇。电影导演 Mark Dornford-May 和音乐导演 Charles Hazlewood 将现代卡门描绘成后殖民/后现代主义背景下解放的女性，可以通过解释符号符号和特定的叙事策略来追溯——如文学和电影文本中所见。在 U-Carmen eKhayelitsha 中对卡门身份的重新编码质疑了卡门作为观众已经习惯的标志性蛇蝎美人的顽固或刻板印象。本土化的生产提供了对卡门身份的替代看法的求助。U-Carmen eKhayelitsha 并不否认前传文本中卡门的性感和女性气质，但它把卡门描绘成一个比比才歌剧中描绘的人物更为复杂的人物。