The Art Of Eating:on Chinese Diet Literature In The 20th Century

The striking characteristic of Chinese culture is its special concern about real life, of which Diet is always an important part. The pursuing of Taste is not only one source of pleasures in the life of Chinese people, but also the aspiration of Chinese literature. Over the 20th century, diet literature had become an important genre in Chinese vernacular literature, emerging with a large number of famous writers and masterpieces, mirroring rich spiritual connotations such as literature value, literati interests and cultural nostalgia, etc.The present dissertation consists of two parts. Part Ⅰ is theoretical study. First of all, it explores the internal relationship between diet and literature, especially the aesthetical property of taste experience and the inner relationship between taste and poetics (chapter 1). Then, it elaborates culture implication in the diet literature in the 20th century, which includes four aspects:childhood memory, expressions for homesickness, identity and literati interests (chapter 2).Part Ⅱ is case study. It chooses works from five representative writers and analyses them in five chapters. The content of each chapter is:the value orientation, destiny reminiscence and emotional sustenance in Zhou Zuoren’s diet literature are imbued with enlightening aspiration for freedom of personality (chapter 3); Tang Lusun’s diet writings reveal his homesickness, his infatuation and obsession on traditional culture, and his holding fast to literati interests (chapter 4); Wang Zengqi’s fictions and essays about food and drink blend the delicacy of classical literature, vivaciousness of popular literature and liveliness of worldly life perfectly, soaking with rich human feelings (chapter 5); Shen Hongfei’s gourmet travel on the paper searches along the border between food and lust, motivating cheerful disposition and showing indulgences in excellent writings and cooking (chapter 6); Shu Qiao grasps the exquisite implication of diet culture commendably, yet betrays kitsch temperament of consumption era in her mentality (chapter 7).