The Formation Of The "tear" The World

In the early years of the Republican China,the most popular genre of novels started changing from"the novel of denouncement"to the"the novel of sentiments". During this period,there was extensively a sad atmosphere which was"heart-breaking and eyes-saddening"in the love tales.Therefore,"novel of sad sentiments"became a fashion in the literary circle in the early Republican years.The style displayed unique characteristics in thoughts and artistic form,and it was also closely related to the social and cultural mentality at that time.As a typical writer of"sentimental novel", Xu Zhenya wrote a series of novels such as Yu Li Hun(Jade Pear Spirit) which aroused strong response,and played an important role in the Chinese literary history of early Republican time.At the same time,Xu's works were influenced by the mutual impact of Chinese and Western ideas,the special historical context of the entanglement between modernity and tradition,the complicated life events of the author himself,the continuous yet changing life as an editor,the special status as a member of Nanshe(the Southern Society) and the author's close relationship with his contemporary writers who were also born in Changshu.All these elements were reflected in Xu's works.In the polyphonic time of early Republican years,such elements characterized a typical traditional"literati"writer and made him distinct from his contemporary"intelligentsia"writers and the next generation of"popular literature"writers.Therefore,with study on the writing fashion of Xu Zhenya's novels, it is to explore the distinction and relation between Xu's works and their contemporary novels and Xu's significance in the literary history of early-modern and modern China.The thesis studies Xu Zhenya's novels,and mainly the"novels of sentiments", and relates them with the changing trends of culture and literature in late-Qing and early Republican periods.Meanwhile,through extensive close reading of texts,it is to grasp,in a better and more comprehensive way,how Xu's novel followed tradition and make innovations in a time of transition from the old into the new.The thesis consists of six chapters:The first chapter describes Xu Zhenya's track as a writer.It mainly accounts of Xu Zhenya's life and the literary schools and societies to which he belonged.Xu's Zhenya's life and writing can be divided into four periods,the adolescence,the time when he taught in Wuxi,the time when he worked for Minquanbao(the Newspapers for People's Rights),the peak period of his writing,and the decline period.The schools and societies which were closely related to Xu include the group of Changshu writers,the group of Nanshe(the Southern Society) literati,and the early-time School of Mandarin Ducks and Butterflies.The social networks of Xu Zhenya gave him a complicated cultural identity which combined a member of traditional literati,a learner of new thoughts,a professional newspapers editor and a professional writer. This identity influenced his output of literature.Chapter Two investigates the social cultural background and Xu Zhenya's personality characteristics.Firstly,it points out the three kinds of social cultural background which had important influence on Xu's writing,the social cultural trends of thoughts in early Republican period,the cultural features of Jiangnan(region south of the Yangtze River) and the old-fashioned literati's tradition of moaning sorrows and grievances.Secondly,in light of the historical background,it reveals the origins and expression of Xu Zhenya's witty but bitter-mood,sorrowful character,.Chapter Three explores Xu Zhenya's theory of novel writing.It begins with the introduction to Xu's theory.In his theory,Xu emphasized the function of"sentiments"in novels,especially preferred the"sad sentimental"atmosphere of spiritual purity.He also commented that"sentiments"and"rationality"should be consistent,so that the social effect and aesthetic function can be unified.He asserted that the character and life experience of an author will be fully reflected in his writing style.He placed importance on portrayal of realm of sensibility,in order to refute the tendency of over-emphasis on social effect in the late-Qing novels.Influenced by commercialization in the market of modern newspapers and magazines,he also paid much attention to readers' mentality.With analysis of Xu Zhenya's theory of novels,it is to discover the real face of"refined artistic literature"disguised by the"popular"mask,and accordingly explore Xu's connection to and difference from the notion of"literature as leisure and entertainment"advocated by the later School of Mandarin Ducks and Butterflies.Chapter Four analyses the characteristics of narration of Xu Zhenya's novels. In the aspects of narrative structure,narrative viewpoints and narrative language,Xu Zhenya's novel narration demonstrated the blend of old-fashioned and new characteristics.On narrative structure,while he copied the traditional casual-noting, objective narration and"gentlemen and fair ladies"format,he also adopted the modern format of letters,diaries and flashbacks.On narrative point of views,the novels used alternately omniscient and limited viewpoints,and changed from the"story-teller to audience"mode in classical"Shuohua"(telling tales) into the"author to reader"mode after the rise of modern newspapers and magazines.On narrative language,Xu highly regarded the traditional genre"pianwen"(the prose of couplets) and manifested a possible way in the varied explorations about written language of novel writing before baihua(plain language) became the mainstream language used in novels.Chapter Five explains the cultural implications of Xu Zhenya's novels.Firstly, Xu Zhenya's novels mainly focused on the subject matter of sad sentiments,and in the aspect of imagery,constructed a"world of tears"which was full of sorrow. Secondly,Xu Zhenya's choice of sentimental love stories as subject matter actually elaborated the two big themes,"enlightenment"and"revolution"in a certain way. Especially,Yu Li Hun(Jade Pear Spirit) and Xue Hong Lei Shi(the Tearful History of Snowy Wild Goose) broke new ground of the novels of"revolutionary and love".Chapter Six illustrates how Xu Zhenya's novels inherited and transformed tradition.As compared to the traditional novels which focused on narration,Xu Zhenya's novel made more effort to express feelings and explore personal experience. This approach of novel writing which placed importance on construction of a subjective world,began a way to establish modernity in modern Chinese novels, along with the new novels which aimed at"enlightening the intelligence of people"in late Qing,represented by Liang Qichao;and the novels which focused on reflecting daily life,represented by Hai Shang Hua Lie Zhuan(A Biography of the Flower on the Sea) and the later School of Mandarin Ducks and Butterflies.