A Comparative Study Of Hardy And Shen Congwen’s Local Novels

Thomas Hardy and Shen Congwen are the most representative local novel writers in the literary world.They made a specific creation at the theme of local and formed their own unique series of novels,which namely "Wessex novel" and "Xiangxi novel".The novels of Hardy and Shen are on the background of their own hometown,as well as describe their familiar living environment respectively,to build the "Wessex world" and "Xiangxi world".They express their passion of homeland and strong criticism of modern industrial civilization in their local novels.There are many similarities and differences between the novels of Hardy and Shen in the factors of writing background,novel content and literary ideal through careful reading and detailed comparison.In this paper,we use the methods of integrating classification,comparative analysis and comprehensive discussion to research the local novels of Hardy and Shen in order to understand the writing intention,writing style and artistic features of the two writers deeply and deepen the comprehension of the meaning of their local novels.First of all,the paper analyzes the reasons that they choose the theme of local,and researches the influence of the growth environment,life experience and local affection on their local novels.Secondly,this paper analyzes the different local description,unique character portrayed and different tragic style of Hardy and Shen Congwen’s local novels,as well as studies their strong feelings of the simple village,the praise of natural women and the strong criticism of the cruel reality.Thirdly,this paper focuses on the literary ideal pursued by Hardy and Shen Congwen.It analyzes the serious reflections of the two writers on social problems,the persistent discussion of human nature and the strong expectation of return to nature.Finally,on the basis of the above analysis,it is concluded that although Hardy and Shen’s local novels have many differences,their novels are all on the background of their hometown,and depict the condition of village and people’s poor life at that time.They describe the invasion and destruction of the modern civilization to traditional civilization and express the yearning of pastoral rural life.At the same time,they hope that the kind and simple virtue of local people can recreate people’s soul.