The Study On The Modernity Of Literature Magazines In May-fourth Period

Abstract:The study on the literature magazines has the special prospective that does not exist in the simple text study. The literature magazines were the media and context of literature, and the study on them is very important. In this article, with the literature magazines in May-fourth period as main research object, the pattern and difficult position of the modernity context, contemporary literature creation and modernity spreading have been studied. The article has been divided into 7 sections.In the instruction, The study process and study method of the literature magazines in May-fourth period have been reviewed. The literature magazine has been defined. The concept of modernity has been analyzed. Modernity is a critical thinking mode, and finds expression in seeking ration and building new order. The enlightenment proposed by the leading brains is the classical pattern of modernity spreading. The literature modernity is the embodiment of the thinking mode in the literature concept, content and literary form.Chapter 1 is on the modernity context of the literature magazines in May-fourth period. The media change influences the literature development, and the magazines and literature magazines themselves have showed the modernity. The literature magazines in May-fourth existed in the social environment in the change from the ancient times to the modern times, when the modernity context was forming gradually. Then China magazines had been developed for 100 years, and the magazine modernity was showing up. The environment of May-fourth period gave a chance to the formation and spreading of the modernity of literature magazines. By the compound influence of political, social, economic and technical environments, the literature magazines showed a different state from that in the late Qing Period. The editing subject began to show strong modern mentality. The socialized press provided the chance to the modernity publication of literature magazines. Chapter 2 is on the pursuing of enlightening the society. The editor of the literature magazines in May-fourth period spread the modernity thinking with literature magazines consciously. The magazines became the belt of the literature groups, and it provided a place to discuss public topics and a platform to criticize the forming public area. New Youth, a representative literature magazine in May-fourth period, developed the Chinese colloquialism movement to change the standard speech and become it to a freely-expression tool with commoner characteristics. The literature magazines in May-fourth period enlightened the reader in the scientism, social evolutionism and liberalism, cultivated their rational critical spirit.Chapter 3 is on relation of literature magazines in May-fourth period and the construction of contemporary literature. In their contents, the magazines achieved the literature modernity creation. By contrasting with foreign literature, translating foreign literature works, recommending foreign writer, and naturalizing foreign literature theory, they draw the blueprint of Chinese literature reform. By criticizing traditional literature idea, content and form, they denied the China classical literature tradition. Then, the literature magazines in May-fourth period created contemporary literature, built new literature theory, formed new literature critic and recommended the works of new literature. The formation of literature system with modernity elements is the symbol of the modern transformation of China literature. Then contemporary literature has born.Chapter 4 is on the relation of the literature magazines and modernity spreading. The magazines focused on the modernity spreading methods. When most of the readers were youth and intellectuals, they communicated with reader in the column reader editor intercourse. By the spreading strategies such as discussion attitude and careful editors and various methods of communication, the magazines got extraordinary spreading effect. The modernity editing and publication strategy got an great achievement. The common acceptance of the reader not only changed the public opinion, but also developed the magazines themselves.Chapter 5 is on the difficult position of modernity of the literature magazines in May-fourth period. When the magazines proposed and spread the modernity, they showed some shortcomings and the difficult position. Then social reform relied on literature magazines overly, and the excessive utilitarianism of literature magazines led the ignorance of the literature aesthetic function. Their eagerness of modernity led the prevailing of activism. In the literature magazines, the thinking mode of activism reform, opposite thoughts, and the deeds of making sensational effect by fair means or foul, all of them, has hidden trouble in the magazine development. The magazines showed classical enlightenment attitude, but when they criticized the tradition by the ration thinking while they built their authority. Then the paradox of modernity enlightenment showed up.In the end, the study summarized the modernity character of the literature magazines in May-fourth period. Their modernity embodied not only in editors' thinking mode of modernity, but also the enlightenment idea in the magazines; not only in the construction of contemporary literature that shows modernity, but also the methods and strategy of modernity spreading. But the hidden troubles in modernity spreading of the magazines also deserve our study.