| The connection of Zhao Shuli's name with a political agenda has obscured his literary accomplishment. The potency of politics in literary evaluation became tellingly apparent in the months preceding the Tiananmen Massacre, when the admiration for Zhao that had characterized the decade collided with a backlash of critical disappreciation among the younger generation of literary critics inspired by Western critical methods and agendas and disgusted with the tragedies that have befallen the Chinese literary world. Hyperbolic repudiation, however, whether originating inside or outside China's borders, fails to consider Zhao's enormous popularity with an audience as diverse as China's range of illiteracy and intellectualism allows.; This dissertation was inspired by the enthusiasm of native readers. Chapter 1 introduces the genesis of his national attention and explains the foundation of the enthusiasm Zhao generated in his audience. Chapter 2 delineates his own public image, its intermingling with the images of his artistic creation, and its intimate connection with the conviction that Zhao represents literary authenticity par excellence. Chapter 3 deals with the politico-literary criticism which instigated a distorted view of his work, stymied and inspired his creative direction and style of political activism, and eventually led to his "liquidation." Chapter 4 contemplates his distinctive literary language, which through its "conspicuousness" contributes in a major way both to the aesthetic pleasure of native readers and to the apathy of the Western audience. Chapter 5 discusses two works set in pre-revolutionary China which, unjustifiably snubbed, deserve recognition as significant contributions to the literary portrayal of traditional society. Chapter 6 analyzes in detail his signature story, "Xiao Erhei Gets Married," showing that its theme is not marriage, but tyranny, and confuting claims that it glorifies the Communist Party and eulogizes socialism. Chapter 7 examines Zhao's narrative strategies through the example of his novel, Changes in Li Village. Chapters 8 and 9 together amplify the characteristics of his comprehensive fictional world in an analysis that reveals on the one hand a "new" society ontologically identical to the old, and on the other, Zhao's practice of a surreptitious socio-political criticism that castigated specific misconceived Party policies. |
