Reflections On The Modernity Of Minority Chinese Novels In The New Century

In the first decade of the new century, people begin to reflect on shortcomings of modernization and explore a better development pattern to protect the future of human society on that basis. In such a social context, the creative orientation of ethnic minority literature has changed to some extent, especially in the field of minority Chinese novels where a group of young writers have sprung up. They pay close attention to the populace, write social changes, reflect on a variety of effects on this contemporary society in the modernizing process, and depict a better prospect of development direction of ethnic minority literature.Introduction:New age minority Chinese novels mirror the social transformation in text mode, which reflects writers’ reflection on modernity. New age minority literary study is needed to summarize and analyze this literary phenomenon. It not only inherits the tradition of ethnic studies, but widens research field of minority literature in the context of this new century.Chapter One:Modern reflection on local narration. Local novels take up a big part of new age minority Chinese novels and among them, works directly expressing the relationship between man and land are more prominent. There are several tendencies which are worthy of attention:one that describes the expanding cities encroach rural land; one that shows the contaminated and damaged land; one that expresses the emotions between man and land; and one that depicts reform and development of land productivity mode. Tao Liqun’s works and Guan Renshan’s works almost contain all tendencies. They reflect on modernity to various degrees and one looks back on land and hometown, while the other welcomes new relationship between man and land, which reveals the writers’thoughts about society.Chapter Two:Modern reflection on city-country-narrative. There are several tendencies in city-country-narrative of new age minority Chinese novels:one that portrays young peasants’yearn for city life and some peasants’resistance to cities; one that pictures peasants’ condition of life after they entered the city; one that depicts migrant workers’home-returning and spiritual journey; one that describes warmth between the populace and kindness they are treated with. Wang Hua’s works focus on "urban-rural conflict" and concentrate on the interactions and contradictions between city and country since China’s reform and opening-up. There is no lack of books about the city and countryside integration in ethnic minority literature. Authors’ reflection on modernity embodies multiple value standpoints.Chapter Three:Modern reflection on ethical narration. New age minority Chinese novels display obvious narrative ethics and several writing tendencies are as follows. One that describes the damage of ethic relations in the countryside; one that displays the destroyed family ethics; one that depicts bioethics containing independent consciousness; and bioethic feeling recording solitude. Descriptions of changes of rural ethics and family ethics reflect how modernity effects human society. Moreover, Xiao Qin’s female bioethics, Wang Hua’s emotional bioethics and Liao Yirong’s bioethic awareness of solitude manifest that young minority writers expand the range of ethical narration and think deeply about modernity.Chapter Four:Modern reflection on ecological narration. Entering the new century, minority ecological novels present a picture of prosperity. There are several tendencies as follows. Some writers express love and reverence to nature; some display various crises of nature through the description of animals; some praise people who protect the natural environment. I take Ye Guangqin’work and Liao Yirong’s work as example to analyze nature and creature hurted by human’s lust. I also take Wang Hua’s work as an example to show eco-dystopian and ecological utopia. The analysis of Pan Ling’s novel is to explore a reasonable and scientific concept of development.In a word, in new age minority Chinese novels, there are a large amount of works expressing the reflection on modernity. This kind of novel embodies the aesthetic principles of literature trespassing into life, which is what ethnic minority literature contributes to the contemporary Chinese realistic literature.