The Sentiment Of Literature In The May 4th Era

In the May 4th era, as one kind of important spiritual mark and psychological atmosphere, "sentiment" fills the air generally in various literary schools and mass organizations. Owing to the close relation with one kind of romantic flavor, "sentiment" acts as the emotional mark which the romantic literature camp—the Creation Society presents most obviously. Viewing "sentiment" as an aesthetic style, and taking the Creation Society as the center, this thesis observes the style of literary forms and literary criticism in 1920s, studies the various reasons for the emerging of sentiment, and analyzes the presentation of sentiment—as an aesthetic feeling and an emotion fact—in texts. Finally this thesis inspects the changing of this aesthetic style in the second half of 1920s.This thesis is divided into four parts:I: Succession and assimilation: "sentiment" acts as the result of the emancipation of man's individual character.There are various reasons for the sentiment of literature in the May 4th era. The traditional literature's expressions of feelings and the traditional writers' sense of hardship, as well as the western culture and the literature, especially the romantic ideological trend are the thought resources; the sentiment atmosphere and the romantic color of the May 4th era, the delicate psychology and the quart decoration makings, as well as some special characteristic (for example, sensitivity)and the sorrow life of the youth generation are the subjective factors; in addition, as an aesthetic feeling of writers, it is easy to be presented in works as a kind of literary style, then one kind of esthetics prevailing custom. Meanwhile as a tool to express ideas and feelings, literature itself is often full of sad mood, and this becomes the main factor of the emerging of sentiment.II: Romantic sentiment in various literary forms: take the Creation Society as the centerIn the May 4th era, "sentiment" disseminates from the Creation Society to the entire literary arena, the fiction, poetry, prose and literary criticism, all generally immerse in sentiment atmosphere. Yu Dafu becomes the backbone of romantic camp for his self-biographical fiction in the May 4th era. Other novelist in and outside of the Creation Society ,such as Guo Moruo, Ni Yide, Chen Xianghe, Ye Dingluo, Wang Yiren...