A Study Of Right Images And Writers' Mentality

In contemporary history of China, "right wing" is a product of Anti-rightist Campaign in 1957, which makes a great many intellectuals undergo 20 years of suffering. Therefore, right wing images in contemporary literature are closely related to social politics and traumatic memory. In the beginning of New Period, right wing images tend to be revolutionized and heroized. What they have suffered is regarded as a stepping stone to grow. This strategy statement with social ideology of that time covers the original context of history. After the late 1980s, when ideological control over literature becomes weak, right wing writers of that time such as Wang Meng, Zhang Xianliang and Cong Weixi, remove the glory that once hangs over their ideology, and write out the historical disaster and mental trauma individuals have suffered to restore reality, interrogate history and warn later generations. Meanwhile, the participation of writers who haven't experienced that age themselves has greatly enhanced the richness and depth of the right wing image.The first chapter discusses right wing images created by Wang Meng, such as Zhong Yicheng and Qian Wen. Zhong Yicheng in Bu Li is a representative of the strong and unyielding right wing revolutionaries in the 1980s, with traits of loyalty and tenacity. However, compared to perfect Zhong Yicheng, the right wing image Qian Wen created by Wang Meng in the 1990s seems rather embarrassed. Around Qian Wen, those rightists who firmly take part in the revolutionary cause also expose their pettiness in that abnormal season. At the time of reproducing the traumatic memory, Wang Meng also retreats to daily life to console soul. As to the view on daily life, Wang Meng is greatly different from Russian writer, Pasternak. The former regards daily life as rest home when tired, while the latter considers it as the origin of all. In addition, Wang Meng resolves the historical pain with Taoism's leisure in traditional culture, which makes him lose the depth of interrogating history.The second chapter relates right wing images Xu Lingjun and Zhang Yonglin created by Zhang Xianliang. In the beginning of New Period, he creates in his novel Soul and Body the image of Xu Lingjun, who has been labeled "right wing" but still heals traumatic memory with gratitude for suffering and instills confidence and strength into that time. In Middle 1980s, Zhang Xianliang creates another right wing image in his novel series, Zhang Yonglin. Due to his bourgeoisie origin, he is filled with the consciousness of original sin and repentance and undergo hard struggles both mentally and physically. The way of redemption comes from labor, from people and from the call of heroism. When Zhang Yonglin steps on the red carpet of politics, he takes "the course of suffering" as a practice in growing up, which is in accordance with the social ideology of that time. Since late 1980s, right images he creates become sufferers who detest historical disaster. In Xi Guan Si Wang, Zhang Yonglin's "course of suffering" leads to his spiritual destruction, irredeemable trauma and present degradation. Xi Guan Si Wang differs from Milan Kundera's The Joke. The former condemns political movement through spiritual destruction of right images, while the latter ponders over universal care after depicting the destructive effects caused by political movement.The third chapter analyzes the evolution of right wing images from ideal hero to ordinary people. In the early 1980s, the shaping of right-wing heroes followed to some extent the way of heroes' creation after the founding of PRC. Those right wing images bear dual identity:sufferer and hero. Although they suffer political catastrophe, they can still resist evil with strong character, remove the haze with upright behaviors, and stick to brightness with pure morality. Until late 1980s, traumatic memory left by historical disaster comes to emerge. Among those writers, the most typical one is Cong Weixi. He changes his heroic creation and depicts the embarrassed and humble life of rightists by means of documentary writing. In this "de-heroize" and "ordinary people" writing, he puts forward the question that "why intellectuals lose their strength of character?" Compared to Russian writer Solzhenitsyn, however, he still bears the shortcoming shared by "1957" writers.The fourth chapter mainly discusses right images created by the writers after 1990. When the age of consumption comes, the "1957" history is almost forgotten by people. At that time, some writers'special attention on "57" shows their strong awareness of responsibility. The "uncle" in Wang Anyi's Uncle's Story doesn't refer to a certain individual, but the whole generation that has experienced Anti-rightist Campaign. Through the search of true history, this novel subverts the false image of the "uncle" in the beginning. Zhou Wenxiang, the protagonist in Long Fengwei's novel China in 1957, dooms to be snakes eater, but he still sticks to love and witnesses grey history; Feng Li resembles Lin Zhao in Peking University. She abides by moral purity at the price of her life and becomes a martyr. The specialty of Wu Ni Hu Nian Pu lies in that Fang Fang writes out the spiritual collapse of intellectuals in the political movement storm. Generally speaking, their works all bear the color of "Examine Fathers". Although their attitudes are not the same, whether subversion or warmth, their works are unique interpretations to historical disasters their fathers have suffered.