On The Ideological Origin And Literary Genealogy Of Ba Jin’s Early Writings

Corresponding to the social reality of China at that time, Ba Jin selectively assimilatedPeter Kropotkin’s anarchic thoughts and further expressed his own view of anarchism, asknow as “my anarchism” as he stated, in his early works. On three aspects including classconflicts, revolutionary forces and the divergences between anarchism and Marxism, Ba Jinelaborated his own theories and views on the role anarchism would play in the developmentof China.In addition to the theoretical elaborations, more vivid interpretations were accomplishedthrough his fictions. Ba Jin explored the evolving path anarchism could possibly took inChina through various full-length novels, novellas and short stories including Destruction,which was basically an expression of personal feelings, The Dead Sun and Snow, whichdemonstrated his concern with working class in China, as well as New Life, Rain andLightening, which delivered explorations on revolutionary paths of the youth. While exploringthe paths of revolution, the protagonists in these novels also lapsed in desperate struggles dueto contradictions between love and hatred, individual and collective as well as ideals andreality, which served simultaneously as an authentic representative of Ba Jin’s own innerfeelings. His thoughts of anarchism were revealed by the description of the life and emotionalexperiences of the protagonists he delivered, during the process of which the ideologicalorigin genealogy of Ba Jin’s early works could be detected.If anarchism served as the ideological origin of Ba Jin’s early novel creations, nihilistnovels in late Qing dynasty and early Republic of China functioned as the literary origin. Inhis early works, various elements, such as the heroism in advocacy of assassinations, the storymode of “revolution and romance” for protagonists, and female figures portrayed, could all betraced back to the nihilist novels, thus the literary genealogy of Ba Jin’s early works wasfound.