The Root-seeking Literature And Lu Yuan's Fiction Creation

This thesis is a study of the novels by Lu Yuan,which have come out since the mid 1980 s.Based on the theory on and characteristics of root-seeking literature,this thesis will sort out and make an outline of the development of root-seeking literature,with particular emphasis on the correlation between Lu's fiction writing and root-seeking literature,thereby pointing out the peculiarities of the writer's novels.It should be noted here that this thesis is by no means a panoramic overview of Lu's fiction writing from the 1980 s till this day.Instead,it explores,by picking up some pertinent and representative novels,how the novelist has managed to conduct “cultural root-seeking” at the peak of root-seeking literature and during the post-root-seeking literature period.This thesis consists the introduction,the body and the conclusion:The Introduction part first gives a brief introduction of the writer himself and his writing career,followed by detailed description of literature reviews on the writer and his works.At the end of this part,there will be a succinct representation of the problem this thesis deals with and its purpose.The main body comprises four sections:The first section examines the overall development of root-seeking literature,dividing it into three phases chronologically the origin,the develop and the follow-up.There will be a description of the writing purpose,the writing situation and the representative writers at each phase.The second section explores the influences of root-seeking literature on Lu Yuan's fiction writing.This section is further divided into two subsections,namely,“Lu Yuan's fiction writing in the period of root-seeking literature” and “The application of modernist techniques”.The former subsection analyzes,by looking at Lu's writing in the mid and late 1980 s,how he embarks on the path of “root-seeking”,how he finds the “root” of his writing in the prairie culture of his origin and how he views the traditional culture from a modern perspective during the course of“root-seeking”;the latter,by looking at Lu's fiction writing from the mid-1980 s to this day,is mainly an overview of his application of modernist techniques in his writing.The works cited here include those written in the mid and late 1980 s as well as those since the end of the 1980 s which belong to the area of post-root-seeking literature.Also there will be a discussion on how Lu uses allegory and magic realism to represent “root-seeking”.The third section discusses Lu's fiction writing in post-root-seeking period.First there will be a comparative study of the similarities and differences in themes,techniques and pursuits of Lu's writing in post-root-seeking period and at the peak of root-seeking literature;the analyses of differences in the two subsections of “The choice of folk stand”and “The convergence of folk stand and modernity” will be highlighted to explore the formation of Lu's folk stand and how he has achieved the convergence of folk stand and modernity.The fourth section expounds briefly on the uniqueness of Lu's inspirational root-seeking novels.The uniqueness lies in the pervading awareness of enlightenment and the understanding of culture.Through a further detailed illustration of the uniqueness,inspirations can be gained from his writing of root-seeking novels.The conclusion part is a conclusive comment on Lu's root-seeking novels: his fiction writing is in conformity with and finally succeeds in the“seeking of root”.Meanwhile,the uniqueness of his novels are attracting the attention of more and more readers and critics.“Marginalized” root-seeking literature is beginning to come under the spotlight.