The Fluctuation Of Divination, Obscuration, Desire And Reflection

From a new perspective,this paper briefly summarized the evolution of modernity of literature since the Renaissance, highlighting the dominant position of symbolic modes in this evolution, focusing on outlining the evolutionary path of such factors as divinity, obscuration, desire and reflection which form symbolic modes,as well as specific styles of symbolic modes which have a certain degree of reproducibility and stability at each stage.The concept of ’modernity’ was always controversial among scholars.Based on integration and refinement of some of the points,this paper holds that the nature of ’modernity’implied a evolutionary model, namely the combination of tradition and novelty, combination of destruction and reconstruction(or variation and integration), and the diachronic constant continuation of this combination. The emanation of instinctive energy which is unable to be encircled by existing symbolic mode contributed to constructing a new symbolic mode, which formed the motive basis of the evolution of modernity of western literature.From the domination of divinity,developping to the fuctuation and variance of factors such as desire and reflection,and coming to an end in the establishing of a kind of new mode with obscuration as its leading factor,the evolution of modernity of western literature showed a certain degree of clear order.Concretely speaking, in the dominant symbolic mode of literary in the Renaissance, there was a natural intimacy between human and divinity, so that people did not need the efforts of desire,because they were able to be the essence or reflection of divinity themseves, treat themselves as hierophany and create divinity centering on themselves. At this stage, the two factors of desire and reflection, were still embryonic. After that in the next dominant symbolic mode of literary,the distance between human and divinity had already appeared,and people needed to have the aid of persistent desire to get a sort of stable connection with divine world.Reflection during this period was affiliated and secondary to desire.Modes such as Interchange of desire and reflection the way of A Season in Hell, the combination of brief desire and obscuration represented by Uncle Vanya and Remembrance of Things Past and so on, and the combination of brief reflection and obscuration represented by Dubliners and so on,in a certain degree of connectivity,took turns to be the core and breakthrough of the evolution of modernity.Their common fate of evolution was Kafkaesque complete obscuration in which desire and reflection subsided and disappeared,and divinity that was got through desire was completely lost, while in the other way,namely through obscuration itself, divinity got signs of regression.Divinity, desire, reflection and obscuration,these four factors played a key role in the evolution of modernity of literary.Divinity and obscuration were in opposition to each other,but they were mutually inclusive too.Obscuration could return to divinity. Desire and reflection were also in opposition to each other, the former turning towards the external states that still could not be internalized,and the later turning towards the internal states that already existed within the subject.Desire and divinity were a group of related factors,desire serving to get in touch with divinity.Meanwhile, reflection and obscuration were a group of related factors as well.The ultimate object of reflection was obscuration.Respectively speaking, the factor of divinity, in its initial phase,namely in the Renaissance,rendered as a sort of relatively perfect form,and basically showed a trend of gradual decay afterwards until almost complete evanishment,while eventually in obscuration revealed a tendency to return and revive.The factor of desire, was generated in the Renaissance and was gradually in the core position in the literary symbolic mode represented by Faust, romantic poetry, Scarlet and Black and so on.It declined little by little in the mode of Interchange of desire and reflexion and in the mode of combination of brief desire and obscuration,and began to appear in the form of transient outbreak and be difficult to sustain, as a consequence of which finally desire in the form of transient outbreak in Dubliners and even in The Metamorphosis was hard to carry on and vanished.To view the situation as a whole, the factor of desire showed a trend from germination, flourish to contabescence.Another factor, reflection, was generated in the Renaissance like desire, growing vigorously and unceasingly in the era of Voltaire and Wordsworth, its crest value being arrived at after the arrival of that of desire, and also showing attenuation herefrom.But it’s complicated by that when desire faded away,there was reflection trying to replace desire to perform momentary transcendental operation upon obscution,which made reflection rebound to some extent.And this rebound did not last long, as reflection as the factor of transcendence itself gradually weakened,so that reflection finally died away in obscuration.The development of the factor of obscuration took on the mirror-symmetric relationship with that of desire.It had grown continuously from a germinative state and finally became an mainly homogeneous and xenophobic existence.