Skepticism And Reflection:an Irony Analysis Of Yue Xia Xiao Jing By Shen Congwen

Yue Xia Xiao Jing is a collection of nine short stories,which were written by Shen Congwen in Qingdao.The stories are full of contradictions;there are deep significance in the novel,so that the story becomes a complex text that is difficult to define simply.Irony is a way to unify superficial contradictions,and it emphasizes the diversity of the world,so it is appropriate to use irony to analyze this novel collection.Through the irony analysis of the language,the plot structure and the theme of the novel collection,combined with the close reading of New Criticism,try to reveal why the author choose irony and what kind of spirit of author has been displayed.Specifically speaking,in the language level,irony mainly means deny and criticize of reality,but behind these criticizes are the author’s desire and expectation.In the structure level,irony mainly means the innovation of novel narrative structure.Structure becomes an integral part of the meaning of the novel,contradictions of characters,stories,and plots caused by multilayered narrative models have become the main causes of irony in the story.Inter-story negation and supplementation caused by serial narrative mode constitutes inter-story irony.The meaning of the story is deepened,and the whole novel is integrated into an organic whole of meaning.The irony on the meaning level is mainly manifested as a deviation from the surface meaning of the story.It is a rebellion against existing norms and orders,which shows the author’s deep reflection on the existence of reality.To Shen Cong-wen irony is actually an attitude towards life.On the one hand,through irony,the collection of novels has reached the truth at multiple levels,including language,structure,and meaning.The author faces his heart and present his views truthfully.On the other hand,irony as a spirit of skepticism and reflection runs through the collection of novels and becomes a spiritual dimension of the author.This spirit of skepticism and reflection comes from the author’s personal experience and life perception on the one hand,and the influence of May Fourth on the other.What stands behind skepticism and reflection is the author’s dialectical affirmation of life and his pursuit of the meaning of life.