Urban Narrative And Desire In The Ideology

The dissertation, by means of a series of close readings of a variety of texts of unban narratives from the 30s to the 90s of the 20th century in Chinese literature, tries to reveal their distinctive features and to disclose their complicated relationships with certain ideologies.The introductory chapter gives a definition and elaboration of the key words such as desire, ideology, and makes a survey of those literary authors and works in relation to urban narrative over a long period. Chapter I focuses on the so-called New Perceptionist writers such as Liu Naou, Mu Shiying and Shi Zhecun, analysing their unique manifestations of desires. Chapter n concentrates on Eileen Chang's so-called philosophy of ordinary life in her works, showing how she rejects any transcendental ideals and values. Chapter HI turns to an investigation of left-wing texts of urban narrative characterized by Mao Dun's Midnight It touches upon its distinctive narrative center, the placement of subject of desires, and images of Utopia Chapter IV discusses the tremendous changes in urban narrative in the new era after 1949 and inquires how revolutionary ideology influences and remolds the urban narrative in terms of a reading of Zhou Erfu's multi-voiume novel, Morning in Shanghai. The final chapter sketches the outline of resurrection of desires in the urban narrative which have been oppressed for a long time. And furthermore, some representations of desires of urban narrative in the 90's, especially prevailing form of "remembering old times", are treated thoroughly.