Research On The Writing Of May Fourth Movement In Modern Chinese Novels(1919-1949)

As the beginning of the modern China, May Fourth Movement has plenty of historical narrations, interpretations and researches, which settle out the images about May Fourth Movement and significantly decide the way people understand and imagine it. However, from the time of origin to now, there are many descriptions and imaginations of May Fourth Movement in literary outputs, especially in novel creations. Compare to the other historical narrations, these literary writings of May Fourth Movement probablyare more emotional, empress more intimate feelings, and show more sympathy of history because of the ideological identification. Of course, these literary descriptions are still the part of explanations of historical events.This article will mainly research the phenomenon of "fictitious" narrations about May Fourth Movement. In other words, this research will focus on how and why modern Chinese novelists like to tell the interesting stories of May Fourth Movement. Moreover, these different stories could be regarded as the reflection of modern schools of thought in different times, and through the research of these stories we can see the different images and projections of May Fourth Movement, and we can find the trace of change of explanations behind the literary imaginations.As space is limited, this research will only discuss the novels and stories from1919to1949, and this article will be generally organized by the historical development of modern literary in order to the variation tendency of the "novelistic" descriptions of May Fourth Movement. In the twenties, the movement was still unfinished, the stories of it mostly was the immediate reflection of the event. It is worth noticing that the popular fiction writers take the lead within this time. These stories was mainly about the judgments of the event, which means the main issue discussed in these stories is about the right and wrong of May Fourth demonstration and New Culture Movement. In the age of thirty modern novelists gradually began to regarding the movement as the history, and started to imagine the movement and search for the power of the social transformation by building the young characters. In the age of forty, it seems to appear the tendency of self-examination about May Fourth Movement. This trend is not only showed in the narration of historical novels, but also in the description of other stories.Except for the diachronic discussions, this article will focus on solving the synchronic problems, which including the relation between novelistic description and historical narration and the relation between novelistic description and modernistic imagination. Therefore, the research approach of this article is the combination of historical description and problem analysis.The specific structure of this article is as follows:Chapter1will discuss the popular novelists’ immediate writing within the movement;analyzetheir ironic technique expression of New Culture Movement, and their critical attitude of May Fourth demonstration. Andwhat’s more, dig out the real reason of all these characteristics, which including two sides. On one side, the writer of popular novels has different conception of history from the novelists came from the group of so-called New Culture writers. In other words, they have totally different imagination of modernity. To them, the starting point of modern China is Revolution of1911, distinguishing from the idea that regards May Fourth Movement as the cut-off point between tradition times and modern times. On the other side, the popular story writers have to defend their own validity among literary field in1920s, which be questioned hardly by the advocators of New Culture.Chapter2is going to pay a close attention to the posture of "retrospect" to Move Fourth Movement in novels within the time of the failure of Great Revolution. With looking back to the movement, the novelist, by the common impulse, expressthe same complicated feelings. On one hand, based on the time they stood, they have to bid farewell to the movement which seems not able to be playan important role, or support strong historical power in the period of "Revolutionary literature". On the other hand, they feel hardly to cut out the spiritual connection between May Fourth movement and themselves which have experienced that movement personally. So in their novels, there is a contradiction between questioning and believing, which leads to the incoordination of the structure, unfinished ending, and sentimental atmosphere. Speaking to the description of May Fourth Movement, it is the first time the movement be narrated as the history, and be demonstrated as one person’s personal experiences and feelings, and be regarded asthe symbol of modernist.Chapter3will focus on creating characters, which is the major method of the "novelistic" descriptions of May Fourth Movement. The representative character is the modem student, who consciously declares war on the traditional culture, especially the Confucian or feudal ethical codes by the way of resisting the authority of the father and running away from home. They are rebellious young man who been influenced by New Culture. The rebellion turns them into modern individuals Some novelists show more doubtful attitudes and try to deconstruct the modernity by some ironic ways Whatever, their narration show us the multicomponent imagination of May Fourth Movement and the modernity.Chapter4will emphasize on one unique text, which is the only historical novel, which narrate the whole and complete history of May Fourth Movement in the history of modern Chinese literature. In fact, this novel is the part of cultural activities of "New Enlightenment Movement" in the late of1930s, and its narration about May Fourth Movement is closely related to both "New Enlightenment Movement" and Mao Zedong’conception of the May4th.Chapter5will follow with interest in the retrospection of the May4th in the early of1940s in order to find out the limitation of novelists’ recollect by using novel as a weapon. The context of war makes novelists simplify the narration of the May4th and turn it into one symbol as "anti-feudal". There is a new generation standing up and claiming their values different from the generation of the May4th in orderto face the new problems posed by the new age of war. Some of these young people claim to surpass the May4th while others maintainthat the new generation should inheritthe spirit of the May4th. But they all agree to criticize the movement first. How and to what extent to continue the so-called "Unfinished May4th" is the quest ion that both they in that time and we have to answer today.