In this article, David Chandler challenges the often dismissive interpretation of Catherine Johnson’s hugely successful Mamma Mia! (1999) as a sunny, upbeat, lightweight musical. Johnson’s earlier dramatic work was of a more serious cast, and returned repeatedly to scenes of damaging, often exploitative, intergenerational desire. This interest continues in Mamma Mia! though commercial imperatives meant it had to be suppressed and displaced. As Sophie, the heroine, secretly meets the three middle-aged men who could be her father, but who have no idea she may be their daughter, the danger that they may be sexually attracted to her – one of them quickly labels her a ‘minx’ – becomes a subter ranean force shaping the fates of most of the central protagonists and the final surprise irresolution of the paternity plot. Intergenerational relationships blossom in Mamma Mia!, but they are treated differently from the relationships between couples of similar ages. David Chandler is a professor in the English Department at Doshisha Univ er sity, Kyoto. His background is in literary Romanticism, but since 2008 he has also pub lished widely on the history of musical theatre in Britain. He is a director of Retrospect Opera.

中文翻译：

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在凯瑟琳约翰逊的妈妈咪呀中引导代际欲望！

在这篇文章中，大卫钱德勒挑战了对凯瑟琳约翰逊的巨大成功的经常不屑一顾的解释妈妈咪呀！(1999) 作为一部阳光、乐观、轻量级的音乐剧。约翰逊早期的戏剧作品的演员阵容更为严肃，并反复回到破坏性的、经常是剥削性的、代际欲望的场景。这种兴趣持续在妈妈咪呀！尽管商业需求意味着它必须被压制和取代。女主角苏菲偷偷会见了三个可能是她父亲但不知道她可能是他们女儿的中年男人，他们可能会被她性吸引的危险——其中一个很快就给她贴上了“ minx' - 成为塑造大多数中心主角命运的地下力量，以及父子情节的最终令人惊讶的不确定性。代际关系蓬勃发展妈妈咪呀！, 但他们的处理方式与年龄相近的夫妻之间的关系不同。David Chandler 是京都同志社大学英语系的教授。他的背景是文学浪漫主义，但自 2008 年以来，他还广泛发表了有关英国音乐剧史的著作。他是Retrospect Opera的导演。