The May Fourth movement that ushered in China’s modern literature constitutes a central and inexhaustible tradition and topic. This paper proceeds from the Chinese literary community’s reflections on the May Fourth ...The May Fourth movement that ushered in China’s modern literature constitutes a central and inexhaustible tradition and topic. This paper proceeds from the Chinese literary community’s reflections on the May Fourth literary tradition to explore the different aims, methods and perspectives of the May Fourth and 1930s literature through the interpretations and evaluations of each period. May Fourth literature followed a humanist approach while that of the 1930s took a social sciences approach. This point can provide us with a correct and rational explanation of the different interpretations and evaluations of the two periods and their complex entanglement. Furthermore, by examining the differences in approach of the two periods, we can look back over the May Fourth literary tradition and gain a better grasp of the transformation of literature in the 1930s, and thus sum up the experience and lessons of the literary tradition of both periods.展开更多
Although the notion of the new woman in modern China has received much scholarly consideration, her usually illiterate rural sister has not received nearly as much critical attention. With the exception of Lu Xun＇s i...Although the notion of the new woman in modern China has received much scholarly consideration, her usually illiterate rural sister has not received nearly as much critical attention. With the exception of Lu Xun＇s iconic Xianglin sao--from his 1924 story ＂Zhufu＂ （The New Year＇s Sacrifice）--almost no depictions of traditional women have been critically appraised in current scholarship. This seems unfortunate when such women can be considered to be both the opposite of and the raw material from which the new woman would spring. This article seeks to begin to address this question by juxtaposing Xianglin sao with another more unfamiliar May Fourth depiction of a rural woman： Liuyi jie （from Bing Xin＇s story of the same name）. By situating Liuyi jie and Xianglin sao firmly within the family structure, the resulting comparison of both stories reveals the structural obstacles that inhibited traditional women from becoming fully active subjects in the new China. The comparison also shows how the May Fourth project established a new woman, one capable of ushering in a newly modern China, whose very existence relies on the discursive silencing of old-style women unable to make this modern transition.展开更多
文摘The May Fourth movement that ushered in China’s modern literature constitutes a central and inexhaustible tradition and topic. This paper proceeds from the Chinese literary community’s reflections on the May Fourth literary tradition to explore the different aims, methods and perspectives of the May Fourth and 1930s literature through the interpretations and evaluations of each period. May Fourth literature followed a humanist approach while that of the 1930s took a social sciences approach. This point can provide us with a correct and rational explanation of the different interpretations and evaluations of the two periods and their complex entanglement. Furthermore, by examining the differences in approach of the two periods, we can look back over the May Fourth literary tradition and gain a better grasp of the transformation of literature in the 1930s, and thus sum up the experience and lessons of the literary tradition of both periods.
文摘Although the notion of the new woman in modern China has received much scholarly consideration, her usually illiterate rural sister has not received nearly as much critical attention. With the exception of Lu Xun＇s iconic Xianglin sao--from his 1924 story ＂Zhufu＂ （The New Year＇s Sacrifice）--almost no depictions of traditional women have been critically appraised in current scholarship. This seems unfortunate when such women can be considered to be both the opposite of and the raw material from which the new woman would spring. This article seeks to begin to address this question by juxtaposing Xianglin sao with another more unfamiliar May Fourth depiction of a rural woman： Liuyi jie （from Bing Xin＇s story of the same name）. By situating Liuyi jie and Xianglin sao firmly within the family structure, the resulting comparison of both stories reveals the structural obstacles that inhibited traditional women from becoming fully active subjects in the new China. The comparison also shows how the May Fourth project established a new woman, one capable of ushering in a newly modern China, whose very existence relies on the discursive silencing of old-style women unable to make this modern transition.
