Global Elements in Chinese Literature

Description

How has modern Chinese literature emerged from the collision of domestic social upheaval, foreign inspiration and sparks of creative genius during the past century? Sihe Chen explores this question from a global perspective, analysing how Chinese authors assimilated Western literary movements to create new forms of expression adapted to a society in rapid transformation. The author then examines these global influences in the works of selected contemporary Chinese novelists and poets. He shows that the problems these writers confront are common to all peoples and that Chinese literature expresses not only the story of China, but also that of humanity. 16 9789004522978-61908 Contents Foreword to the English Edition of Global Elements in Chinese Literature Part 1 The History of China’s New Literature: A Holistic View 1 A Holistic View of the History of China’s New Literature 1 New Literature as an Open “Holisticism” 2 The Holistic Framework of New Literature and World Literature 3 Tradition and Development: Proposed as a Methodology 2 Modernism in the Development of China’s New Literature 1 Chinese and Western Modern Literature: A Comparison 2 The Influence of Modernism on May 4th New Literature 3 The Historical Fate of Modernism in China 4 Prospects of Integrating Modern Consciousness and Chinese National Culture 3 Consciousness of Confession in the Development of China’s New Literature 1 The Evolution of Consciousness of Confession in Western Literature 2 Consciousness of Confession in Literature during the May 4th New Literature Movement 3 From Man’s Confession to Man who Confesses 4 The Regression of Self-Cognition in Man Who Confesses 5 The Possibility of Re-emergence of the Consciousness of Confession in Literature 4 Romanticism in the Development of China’s New Literature 1 Personal Lyric Novels and Pastoral Lyric Novels 2 From Romanticism to Lyricism 5 Realism in the Development of China’s New Literature 1 Realism in China 1.1 Stage 1: The Division of Realism and Naturalism 1.2 Stage 2: Realism and Marxism: A Synchronization 1.3 Stage 3: Confrontation between Realism and Pseudo-Realism 2 From Creative Theories of Realism to Writers’ Realist Fighting Spirit 3 Modern Resistance Consciousness in Contemporary Literary Creations Part 2 Global Elements in Chinese Literature of the 20th Century 6 Global Elements in Chinese Literature of the 20th Century 1 The Origin of Research Inquiry 2 Why Question the Empirical Approach? 3 Some Understandings of the Study of “Global Elements” 7 The Avant-Garde Spirit of the May 4th New Literature Movement 1 The Attention of May 4th New Literature Writers to the Western Avant-Garde Literature 1.1 Futurism 1.2 Expressionism in Germany 2 “Man-eating” Imagery, Antagonistic Criticism and Europeanized Expressions: the Characteristics of the Chinese Avant-Garde Spirit 3 The Relationship between the Avant-Garde Spirit of the May 4th New Literature and Modern Literature 8 The Collection of Sonnets: the Model of Exploring Global Elements 1 Soughing Jade Tree in the Spring Breeze of German Literature 2 Interpreting The Collection of Sonnets 2.1 Movement 1: A Solemn Prelude to Immortality in Nirvana (Sonnets One to Four) 2.2 Movement 2: Muses Befalling the World – Sketch and Warning (Sonnets Five to Seven) 2.3 Movement 3: The Poet’s Spiritual Journey – Enlightenment to Self-Redemption (Sonnets Eight to Fourteen) 2.4 Movement 4: The Ode to Life – Man’s Vastness and Love (Sonnets Fifteen to Twenty) 2.5 Movement 5: The Song of Being – The Universe in the Straitness (Sonnets Twenty-One to Twenty-Three) 2.6 Movement 6: The End of Solitude – The Conversion of Being and Nothingness (Sonnets Twenty-Four to Twenty-Seven) 9 A Dictionary of Maqiao: One Case of the Global Elements in Chinese Contemporary Literature 10 Daemonic Elements in Hard Like Water by Yan Lianke 1 The Embodiment of “The Daemonic” in the World Literary Creations and Its Application in Literary Research 2 The Daemonic Elements in Hard Like Water 3 The Cultural Revolution Narratives and Daemonic Elements in Contemporary Literature 11 Daemonic Elements in Zhang Wei’s Fictions 1 Reasons for Applying Daemonic Elements to Interpret Zhang Wei’s Fictions 2 Daemonic Elements in Zhang Wei’s Works: Different Kinds of Primal Desires 2.1 Seven Kinds of Mushrooms: Struggles for the Desire for Power and the Prototype of Primal Desire during the Cultural Revolution 2.2 Book of Foreign Province: The Desire for Survival and the Desire for Life in the Era of Human Liberation 2.3 Recall Mallow: Prevalence of “the Daemonic” in the Era of Materialism 3 The Overall Limitations of Daemonic Elements in Zhang Wei’s Fictions 12 The Folk Narrative of Brothers from the Perspective of Bakhtin’s Folk Theory 1 Folk Tradition and Grotesque Realism: The Revelation of Bakhtin 2 Peeping Details in Hidden Text Structure 3 Folk Narratives: Three Forms of Vulgar Rhetoric Appendices Appendix I: Thoughts on the Relationship between Chinese and Western Literature Appendix II: Comparative Literature and More Academic-Oriented Education Appendix III: The Spiritual Foundation of Comparative Literature as a Discipline – On René Étiemble’s “Comparative Literature is Humanism” 1 René Étiemble’s Teaching Ideals of Comparative Literature 2 Comparative Literature is Humanism: Thus Spoke René Étiemble 3 Back to the Beginning: Revisiting René Étiemble’s “Humanism” 4 The Identity of Life and the Difference of Culture: The Disciplinary Spirit of Comparative Literature References Books Book Series Newspapers and Periodicals Index