On The Critical Post-Humanistic Thought In Julian Barnes' Novels

Julian Barnes is one of the most prestigious writers in contemporary Britain.He is committed to the innovation of novel form,and his creative style also changes with different stylistic experiments,so he is known as the British "Chameleon".At the same time,Barnes' works are also very rich and profound,covering many aspects such as history,ethics,and literary criticism.But behind these,Barnes is always trying to explore how people can live better now,which contains Barnes' unique post-humanistic thought.The critical post-humanistic thought in Julian Barnes' s novels is mainly reflected in his thinking on subjectivity,individuality and humanity.By giving the non-human part a certain degree of subjectivity,the traditional subject has strong plasticity,and on this basis,the grasp of universal vitality points to a more perfect subject.The free will,which is the core of the traditional individuality,has also been transformed into an unattainable goal,while love has been placed at the center of ethics,while insisting on focusing on practice to maintain the reasonable existence of the individual.On the basis of changing the subject and individual,the core position of rationality in human nature is no longer,while non-rationality has been promoted to a sufficient height,and both rationality and irrationality arise from the true nature of human nature.In order to better express his critical post-humanistic thought,Barnes reasonably used some post-modern expression methods.Through various stylistic experiments such as patchwork of various styles,cross-textual intertextuality inside and outside the text,and unexpected open endings,Barnes further showed the complexity of human nature.By giving marginal groups sufficient narrative power,changing the speaking position of the traditional subject and the author's direct involvement in the narrative,Barnes subverted the narrative authority of the traditional subject and thus deconstructed the subject.Paying attention to the parody of the text and recasting the truth of the discourse reflects Barnes' s attention to multiple individuals.The main reasons for Barnes to have such a critical post-humanistic thought are the human crisis in the subjective and objective era and the weakness of traditional humanism.Due to the threat of power and economic development,the notion that material life is abundance has gradually penetrated into people's hearts,and people have gradually lost themselves in the material,while manipulating interpersonal relationships to control each individual has further reflected the totalitarian power anti.In this case,weak individuals often paralyze themselves through selective or even constructive memory.The respect for freedom in traditional humanism,because of the total oppression of totalitarianism,has become a lonely escape from freedom,and religious belief has become increasingly weak under the development of productive forces.Facing the problem of death that all humanism cannot solve,Barnes proposed the tragic proposition of resisting death to death in his novel.Facing death on the basis of believing that the final generation of death in response to death reflects the unique value of Barnes' critical post-humanist thought.On the other hand,although Barnes' s critical post-humanistic thought was put forward based on the needs of the times,containing its profound humanistic care and breakthroughs,but there are also certain shortcomings.First of all,the main group of this idea is the middle class.In Barnes' s writing,he often appears extremely weak and inferior because he cannot bear the huge pressure from the upper and lower classes.At the same time,the love that Barnes believes in often points to betrayal.All made him suffer so much that the oldfashioned image in his novel was as disturbed as the confused young man.Behind these,the fear of death is even more profound.