Economic Rationalism And New Metropolis Novels Of 1990'S

Pure economic rationalism, like enlightening rationalism, is an importantideological resource that has brought about the transformation of human society froma traditional society to a modern one. It is a very influential ideology. Economicrationalism was put forward by German social scientist Max Weber in his THEPROTESTANT ETHIC AND THE SPIRIT OF CAPITALISM. It is an ideologicalsystem based on the logic of exchange, with the Philosophy of Money as its key stone.The basic mode of its existence is economic activity, and its ultimate goal is to gainmaximum profit. Economic rationalism and its expansion has led to the appearance ofMetropolis novels, which in turn give expression to economic rationalism. It not onlydetermines the producing mechanism of Metropolis novels, but even affects theirtheme and aesthetic features. As for the study of the relationship between economicrationalism and the creation of Metropolis novels, the representative monographabroad is THE RISE OF THE NOVEL -studies in Defoe, Richardson and Fieldingby Lan Watt,and there is THE CULTRUE RESEARCH UNDER MARKETECONOMIC by Qi Shuyu at home. These study were conducted from the perspectiveof economic rationalism in its broad sense and market economy, which is its form ofexpression. But such research failed either to define economic rationalism clearly orto explore the profound influence of economic rationalism on the producingmechanism of Metropolis novels.Prior to the new era, economic rationalism played an important role at thenational and collective level. Due to a particular political environment and ideology,the effect of economic rationalism on the individual was obstructed. In the new era,with the ideological emancipation and the deepening understanding of economicactivities, economic rationalism has begun to revive and expand gradually. Differentfrom the spontaneous revival of economic rationalism in the western society, therevival of economic rationalism in China results from the conscious driving of Partypolitics. The primary driving force of economic rationalism in the 1990s was thewillpower of the Party and the state, so economic rationalism was closely related toideology. The revival of economic rationalism and its expansion has brought about acomprehensive and profound change in the contemporary society. Ferdinand Tonnies'inference of the so-called transformation from a ritual society in the form ofcommunity to a society of legal principles which stresses individual interest has comeinto reality in China. Its manifestation is as follows: i) Due to the uniformity of thewillpower of the state, the party and the individual, substantial profitism andconsumerism prosper;ii) With individualism and economic rationalism joining hands,economic individualism comes into being and plays a role. As a result, there is moreindividual freedom based on the economic foundation, which accelerates theemancipation of the individual, especially the emancipation of women. iii) Theexpansion of economic rationalism facilitates the stratification of the Chinese society,which gives birth to the middle class. iv) Most importantly, its expansion has broughtabout a shift of values and laid a foundation for a new value system. Economicrationalism and its expansion has a more profound influence on Chinese metropolis.According to F.braudel, metropolis and economic rationalism are combined into one.The appearance of the new metropolis actually coincides with the revival of economicrationalism. The change caused by economic rationalism and metropolis has not onlyboosted industry and business, but also brought about the so-called phenomenon thatthe social order is remoulded by the spirit of the civilians, which is proposed by MaxScheler. Thus the metropolis spirit in contemporary China, which takes economicrationalism as its core, has come into being and spread.The appearance of new metropolis novels in China in the 1990s is undoubtedlythe inevitable result of the revival of economic rationalism and its expansion, and thenew metropolis novels owe their development and prosperity to economic rationalism.But for a long time, researchers in contemporary literature in China have eitherthought economic rationalism does not exist, or thought it can be learnt without ateacher, which has brought about the embarrassing situation in literature criticism. Asa result, there appears the so-called "aphasia". The reputation of contemporaryliterature criticism is stained, and its healthy development is affected. A study of thecauses has found that critics know little or nothing about economic rationalism.Therefore, the reasonable and objective investigation into the relationship between thetwo helps to grasp the new change in the content and aesthetic features ofcontemporary metropolis novels. It also helps to detect and deal with the variousproblems in the development of new metropolis novels. What's more, suchinvestigation helps to discover the role new metropolis novels play in the constructionof a harmonious society. It also helps Chinese literature to come up withcountermeasures in order to compete in the world literature. This subject is worthdiscussing theoretically, and it has practical value as well. Besides, it helps to map outstrategies, thus having reference value.In this dissertation, economic rationalism is regarded as the knowledgebackground and research angle of new metropolis novels. It is also the theoreticalfoundation and coordinates of value when the texts are interpreted. This dissertationconsists of eight parts. They are: introduction;economic rationalism as the knowledgebackground of new metropolis novels since 1990s;the cultural foundation of newmetropolis novels;the source and rise of new metropolis novels;the culturalconnotation of new metropolis novels predominated by economic rationalism;theaesthetic features of new metropolis novels guided by economic rationalism;thejudgment and countermeasures of new metropolis novels dominated by economicrationalism;and conclusion.The introduction begins with the relationship between economic rationalism andnew metropolis novels. Then a clear definition of new metropolis novels is providedand the scope of study is determined.Chapter one explores the knowledge background of economic rationalism andgives an explicit definition of economic rationalism from the following aspects: thelogic of exchange;Philosophy of Money;economic activity and maximum profit.Chapter two probes into the cultural foundation of new metropolis novels from theangle of Genetic Epistemology. Chapter three discover the source of new metropolisnovels and its rerise. Chapter four examines the six cultural connotations of newmetropolis novels predominated by economic rationalism. Which manifests itself inthe following aspects: i) the cheer of nationalism and legal spirit . ii) the paean ofwealth and economic individualism . iii) the criticism of economic rationalism. iv) theemerge of consumerism and post-colonialism . v) the economic rationalism andFeminism. vi) the homeless or hardship of exist and unrestrained behavior. Chapterfive analyzes the four aesthetic features of new metropolis novels guided by economicrationalism. Which manifests itself in the following aspects: i) the hero narrativeand decadent narrative. ii) the paradoxical character of body narrative. iii) theanti-intellectualism and secular narrative. iv) the tendency of kitsch. Chapter sixpasses judgment on the content and artistic features of new metropolis novels thejudgment by economic rationalism. Which manifests itself in the following aspects:i) the extreme identification of economic rationalism. ii) the makeup of newmetropolis culture and fun morality. iii) the lack of everlasting and ambiguousequivocal . iv) the subjective and double alienation.In conclusion, summarize new metropolis novels in general and provide methodsto solve these problems about new metropolis novels.It blazes new trails to introduce economic rationalism into the research ofcontemporary metropolis novels. Only by studying metropolis novels from thisperspective can many seemingly vague problems be analyzed thoroughly and thehealthy development of metropolis novels in China be accurately located. If the newmetropolis novels are not studied from this perspective, It is likely that the critics willsuffer "aphasia" again. Even if it is not the case, the research will face theembarrassing situation in which the words fail to convey the meaning. In thisdissertation, author also create a new critical words system and type about newmetropolis novels. This critical words system and type can explain culturalconnotations and aesthetic features of 90's new metropolis novels. New metropolisnovels is meta-narrative in 1990's , it has not been discovered from new angle . Itbeen put in new theory scope , new analysis about new metropolis novels can be drawin this dissertation. So the conclusion can embody creative characters .The theme of narration in new metropolis novels has the features of bothmodernity and post-modernity, This research is a interdisciplinary study, in which newmetropolis novels harmonize with economic philosophy, economic sociology andeconomic ethics. It aims to explore the features of new metropolis novels influencedby the domination and expansion of economic rationalism. It attaches equalimportance to the study of the trend of thoughts and the analysis of specific texts. Theresearch method is the study of the whole combined with the study of the part.Meanwhile, neo-humanism and post-modernity are systematically interjected in thestudy.