Hero & Alienation & Literature

The western literature is the history of mankind's mind, is also the history which expresses a hero mind, is the magnificent epic of hero opposing alienation, looking for freedom and liberation. Molding the hero can be treated as a great tradition of western literature, poureding western authors into no slackening of effort of creation enthusiasm. Birth from" demigod " of the first prototype of the hero image at The Ancient Greece literature, This"The Hero Type of Demigod" has been controled and dominated the figures' molding of The Western literature , The hero images in the not coetaneous literature all can be treated as the different"anamorphosis" of "The Hero Type of Demigod". No other than these hero prototypes and its anamorphosis pools versatile river of the western literature.From ancient Grecian literature up to the western literature of the 20^th century , When we inducing and combing along this clue of the hero motif, we will clearly discover the movement track of the hero in the western literature motif and it' s diversification:The Ancient Greece Age is the age of the mankind in childhood period constructing beautiful myth poetically, is also a hero age of clustering many heroes. In the heroes Of mythology, for example, Prometheus who stealing the fire from The Heaven, Hercules who strongly the absolute being, these "The Hero Type of Demigod" of half person half absolute being have become hero prototype and motif of the whole western literature. Epic heroes and tragedy heroes after that , for example , the hero collectivism of the eastern type Hector, Odysseus who full of wisdom and resource, and Oedipus who revolting aginst the destiny fearlessly, even the hero type of "devil" Medea who cryouting the first voice of"feminism", although they don't belong to the posterity of person and absolute being, They all have imposing life experienced and the noblest birth similaring to the Demigod , and these hero images are the better explaining and deeply testify of "The Hero Type of Demigod". "The Hero Type of Demigod" is apotheosizing of the Greek hero where they living in history and realism in Hero Ages, is also the personification of the collective strength and collective wisdom.Boundless The Middle Ages is the age of God rule the whole shoot, God full of omniscience and almightiness made the heroes in the Hebrew myth wanting of independent consciousness and subjective spirit of Greece heroes trevolting and activity, therefore, The heroes in the Hebrew myth were the embodiment of the godship brilliance and reasonableness spirit of God , Their superhuman power and outstanding achievement is just for proving the greatness of God' s divine nature. But the epic heroes and knight' s heroes going round the folklore in the Middle Ages, then express another pursuing and aspiration of the spirit world—the pursuing to the terrestrial God. I Can say, the hero motif in the Middle Ages literature have been a qualitative change:If "The Hero Type of Demigod" in The Ancient Greece Literature provide precious motif and prototype for the western literature, so, the divine nature heroes in the Middle Ages literature , or rather, religious hero, then provided another kind of prototype for the western literature:Namely the collectivism hero full of reasonableness and intelligence and collective feeling of honor and the sense of responsibility. Though the western civilization in the process of its development and evolution was gradually choosing the individualism hero type of Achilles as it' s spirit mainstream, and the collectivism herors in the Middle Ages full of religious state of mind and reasonableness spirits having been long-termed turned by the edge, but, just because the Middle Ages Literature provided this kind of hero prototype as the opposite to mainstream hero, that made the image molding of western literature more abundant, also more integrality. If say those myth heroes, epic heroes and tragedy heroes in The Ancient Greece Ages have been established the great tradition of western literature molding "The Hero Type of Demigod", the Christianity heroes in the Middle Ages were the refraction of God' s reasonableness spirit, so, the hero images in The Humanism Literature of the Renaissance have all branded the deep branding of giant spirit of this giant in giant ages. The Renaissance is an age which calling and bringing up the giants, The hero motif in the literature of this age have also immediately taken place of tremendous change: The hero images in the literature at that times have break through the traditional molding pattern of divine nature hero , The angle of view has changed from the divine nature heros to giant heros:For example, Pantagruel writed by Rabelais, Hamlet writed by Shakespeare and Quixote writed by Cervantes, They are the outstanding delegates of he hero type of giants in the giant epoch. " Pantagruelisme " is the well and plenitudinous expresses of the giant spirit and the giant ideal of the giant ages;But Quixote who is a worried look knight and facetious and ridiculous image in this cultural transformation era, has already reared the clues of the "anti-hero" image in the future literature.The rationalism has been predominated eveything in 17^th century, what the classic literature publicized is the reasonableness' victory to emotion in this century. However, British writer Milton have molded ahother treasonous hero type of Satan in The Paradise Lost.The hero motif in Milton' s writings have changed from "The Hero Type of Demigod" to their extreme opposite "The Hero Type of Satan". "The Hero Type of Satan"have come to a peak state in the Romanticism Literature and the Realism Literature in the 19^th century. "The Hero Type of Satan" is the another tribe of hero pedigrees in the western literature, They breathe lonely moaning wind, their vision for revenge sweeped hostile everything, catharsised themselves raving emotion in the joviality of the destruction, they were "The Hero Type of Demigod" who declared war toward the society by the tremendous and evil force.The Enlightenment Times is another giant age after The Renaissance, The visual angle from the change of hero motif, there have a original relation coming down in one continuous line between the enlighten hero in the 18^th century literature and the giant type hero of The Renaissance. The differentiation lies in:If the giant type hero of The Renaissance have reflected the rising bourgeoisie calling and expecting for the giant type hero, so, the enlighten heroes from Robinson to Faust in The Enlightenment Times have already growing up from infantility to maturity, have become the symbol of bourgeoisie heroes who actively exploiting and enterprising. from Hamlet in The Renaissance to Faust in The Enlightenment Times , We can clearly observe the growth process of the bourgeoisie from infantility to maturity.The wreckage of enlighten myth have gestated surging The Romanticism Movement, The French Revolution and the turbulent European social reality after that Revolution have been projected people's spirit and mental world and have midwiferied the complicated and diversary romanticism cultural thoughts. The change of the hero motif in the 19^th century romanticism literature, has represented extrusively the image molding of romantic heros what the romantic writers have wilded about. But "The Hero Type of Baron"who rebel social volcanically have ring the stronggest sound Of the 19^th century romantic heroes, we can found out morely the gene of "The Hero Type of Satan" in these "The Hero Type of Baron".The profound crisis of capitalistic society in the 20^th century resulted in the person's overall alienation, the heros of the literature have already lost their sublime dignity and elegant demeanour in former days and declining desolately, And the hero motif of the western modernism literature in the 20^th century has changed from traditional "The Hero Type of Demigod" to their opposite, have been metamorphosised "anti-hero" whose enginery is declining and intelligence is lowly: For example, "outsider" Meursault writed by Albert Camus is the incarnation of absurd hero, is a "nonsense martyr" that martyred for absurdity;Ge Ge and Di Di then are "anti-hero" who looking after the hope of redeem bitterly in the absurd circumstances; Yossarian is an "anti-hero" who can dare to declare war toward outmoded conventions and the destiny; "anti-entropy hero" writed by Thomas Pynchon who can dare to affront the alienation to human nature from the entropify world and continuously "pursuing" and" surmount ing"; while Herzog is an "anti-hero" who bitterly pondering and looking for oneself in the predicament of exist. from Faust to Herzog, We can found the twist growth process of the capitalist cultural spirits.In the middle of the literature desert where hero absence in the 20(th) century , we still can discover a literature oasis of exploiting and ushering hero delightly: "The hero type of Hemingway" writed by the American novelist Ernest Hemingway, and "The hero type of Rolan" writed by French writer Roman Rolan who surmount and break through traditional hero types, all of these heroes show the worried modern writers calling and expectating for traditional heroes, they are the watchers of hero myth in the alienation world in the 20^th century.Therefore, the hero motif of the 20 century western literature which " anti-hero " has become the mainstream , while also flowing out the reverse undercurrent which calling and regression for the traditional hero prototype.Seeing from the total trend, the hero motif of the western literature has been changed from magnific and lofty "The Hero Type of Demigod" to cowardly and atrophic "anti-hero" .The maxim "know you by yourself" where engraved on Apollo Hieron in fact has explained the all of worth and the ultimate mission of the western literature . When we walk along this clue of the hero motif in the versatile river of western literature, perhaps we would find ourselves surprisingly.