The Urban Orientation Of "Cernacular Writers"

From 1920 to 1937,Jian Xian’ai published a large number of works on urban themes in numerous literary periodicals,which were closely related to his Beijing experience.It can be said that Beijing,as an important starting point of Jian Xian’ai’s literary career,not only provided him with the identity of "literary youth",gave him the possibility to participate in cultural practices,but also shaped his literary outlook.As Beijing’s "participation" in Jian Xian’ai’s spiritual life deepened,the "Beijing world" created in this interaction between "the city and people" formed an important part of Jian Xian’ai’s literary world.From the perspective of cultural practices,when Jian Xian’ai first entered the Beijing cultural scene,he joined the emerging cultural order in Beijing through the new cultural production methods that tended to be standardized and normalized after the May Fourth Movement,such as creation,association,and journalism.Here,he had the opportunity to study and emulate Chekhov and Lu Xun,and established the "realistic" tone of writing.Before gradually shifting towards "vernacular literature",Jian Xian’ai wrote more about the city under the shaping of the Beijing cultural scene.As a literary genre and cognitive mode,vernacular literature is actually a product of Jian Xian’ai’s cultural practice in Beijing.Along with urban writing,they constitute two sides of the same coin.In terms of urban writing,Jian Xian’ai’s expatriate experience is the origin for understanding his Beijing experience.As an expatriate author with rich personal experiences,Jian Xian’ai’s writing about Beijing shows several tendencies.The first tendency is about the differences in writing with different states of mind,ranging from the new poetry that expresses the lonely state of mind to the urban fiction which is written objectively from the mindset of urban protagonists after Jian Xian’ai acquired urban status.The second tendency is about the writing of urban modernity factors,in which urban parks and modern trams appear most frequently.At the same time,by focusing on economic issues,Jian Xian’ai also wrote a history of the "demise" of the urban poor.However,the reformism attitude toward this issue reflects the limitations of Jian’s thinking.The third tendency is about the writing and criticism of the Bannerman,a representative of Beijing,which also reveals his attitude toward Chinese cultural traditions as a member of the post-May Fourth generation.During the Revolution,Jian Xian’ai moved between Xu Zhimo and Lu Xun at first,but later he leaned more towards Lu Xun.Later,he began to focus more on the highlyacclaimed vernacular literature rather than urban writing.After the May 30 th Movement,he became dissatisfied with and wavered from reformist ideas.After the tragedy of March18 th,Beijing lost its status as a political center and a large number of intellectuals went south.But Jian Xian’ai did not find a way to imagine revolution in his return trip to his hometown,and as the national tragedy deepened,his thoughts on revolution settled on patriotism instead.Children of the Old City is a true record of Beijing before and after the fall,in which Jian Xian’ai demonstrates his drift towards revolution.This work is not only the only novellas in his creative career,but also embodies all his yearning for Beijing.