Sima Changfeng And Tang Tao 's Study Of Literary History

Study on literary history always has been hot. The study includes not only rethinking the value of works and writers, combing the value and significance of various works of literary history, but also researching the complex relationship between literary history and other external factors such as society, politics, etc. Thinking and combing the "View of Literary History" behind these works of literary history is also included.Tang Tao’s Chinese Modern Literary History and Sima Changfeng’s Chinese New Literary History, written separately in Chinese mainland and Hong Kong in the 1970s, have their own significance, as they are quite different. Despite the big difference between them, these two works seek for "Nationality" together, for example, Sima Changfeng’s "Chinese Taste", "national Spirit", and Tang Tao’s "National Style". But Sima Changfeng’s "Nationality" means more a kind of traditional aesthetic quality, relating to his emotional view of literature, seeking back to traditional spirit. And Tang Tao stressed popularism related to "Literary and art’s workers peasants and soldiers’ direction" , in order to broaden people’s acceptance towards literary works. This thesis compares the difference between their "Nationality".Chapter one analyses their works of literary history, trying to find out the different choices towards "Nationality". By different writing purpose, their views of Chinese new literature’s attribute, writers and works which to be written, and judgements of writers especially of Lu Xun are quite different, too. They both resisted westernization and sought for "Nationality", but chose two different direction. Chapter one introduces these two works’ styles, writing purposes, and pursuit of "Nationality", and also includes Sima Changfeng’s evaluation towards Chinese mainland’s "popularization", in order to compare the difference between them by reading their works.Chapter two starting from their theories, explains more about the different meanings of their "Nationality", by analysing the difference between their views towards literature. Sima Changfeng pursued nationality mainly under the command of his pure literary conception. His pure literary conception had a series of standards:motivation of creation-feeling, the purpose of writing-simpleness, and the method of criticism-appreciating. These guidelines are all based on Chinese traditional aesthetic principles, and thus his nationality followed more after tradition, building such kind of national aesthetics based on language, poetry, and painting. Tang Tao’s literary ideas are consistent with the mainstream, pursuing the unity of truth, goodness and beauty by typicalness with realism, and pursuing the political function of literature. Built in such a way, his "national style", stressed more on the effect of publicity. The characters he borrowed from traditional aesthetic, such as "genre painting", implicitness and expressivity, were cleverly converted to social life, symbolization and typicalness. Among them, as the material basis of literature, social life is the key to achieve "popularization".The third chapter is a analysis of the reason why they chose so differently, from the points of the objective historical, political, social environment, and the subjective academic tradition and academic environment, humanness and their experience. Sima Changfeng looked back to the tradition, due to his deep homesickness. He pursued "true feelings" and "democracy" all his life, and the experience of exile and wandering also added his homesickness, while Hong Kong’s special cultural environment really contributed to Sima Changfeng’s pursuit of "Nationality". Tang Tao is a typical Chinese mainland’s intellectual willing to devote himself to "the great cause of communism", and accepting the literary view of New-Democratism Theory without reservation. Their different identities-author who can think and write freely and chief editor who need to unify people’s thought, had a tremendous impact on these two works.This thesis does not try to determine a definition of "Nationality", or determine its meaning. Sima Changfeng and Tang Tao made quite different choices. This is very typical in 1970s between Chinese mainland and Hong Kong. And it helps to tell that this concept "Nationality" really has great tolerance and possibilities. These two choices seem completely different, but are both connected to the "Tradition" in a broad sense. They can be seen as the general "Great Tradition" and the "New Tradition" built by literature in the Liberated Areas, or two factions in traditional culture:the "Ambition" faction and the "Principle" faction, and even can be seen as both Chinese lyric traditions alive-this will touch David Wang’s "lyrical tradition and Chinese Modernity" proposition.Looking back on the past and look forward to the future, which kind of "Nationality" will we choose? This thesis’ purpose is not to make a judgment, but to provide more possibilities for choice.