A Comparative Study Of Individualism In Literary Creation Between Lin Yutang And Natsume Souseki

The theory of individualism regards the individual as a subject with independent meaning and value,takes self-will and sensibility as the criterion of value,and is molded as the dominant spirit of capitalist culture.However,in ancient China and Japan,along with the Confucianization of Confucianism and metaphysics,they gradually blurred and dispelled their individual identity.Lin Yutang and Natsume Soseki,as literary giants who have learned Chinese and Western cultures,and have learned everything from the past to the present,are both in the context of the special era of social transformation in China and Japan.Their literary creations reflect similar individualistic thoughts in the themes and character images.This article brings Lin Yutang and Natsume Soseki into the parallel research field of comparative literature,trying to clarify the similarities and differences of the mutual status relationship between the individual self and the other in the context of the fierce collision and blending of Chinese and Western thoughts.The first chapter expounds the concept of individualism and combs its theoretical connotation.In the literary field,it appears as a character image resisting the restraint of autocracy and pursuing the subjective characteristics of individual self;the writer consciously examines and resists authoritative discourse,and constructs unique Personality style speech space,writing unique personal life experience and other aspects.The second chapter discusses the commonness of Lin Yutang and Natsume Soseki’s acceptance of individualism in the context of "Western learning spreading to the east".It mainly includes the characterization of self-consciousness in literary creation,and the individualized creation style alienated from the mainstream.And pointed out that the two use Confucian humanistic care to resolve the ethical dilemma of extreme egoism in the West,and give the moral subject to theoretical reconstruction.In addition,both of them resonate with the state of Laozi and Zhuangzi’s philosophy of forgetting motives,harmony with light and dust,and finally transcending the individual’s self.The third chapter mainly studies the differences between the two literary creations based on individualism,the relationship between the characters and the differences in cultural identity.It is pointed out that Lin Yutang’s literature focuses on constructing a harmonious social relationship between close feelings and exploring the dialogue and integration of Chinese and Western cultures;while Natsume Soseki’s works highlight the "closedness" of the subject construction and the distress of spiritual barriers,highlighting the dialogue between subjects from the negative side The desire and desire for communication.The fourth chapter summarizes the artistic contribution and enlightenment of the individualistic discourse in the two literary works.They actively shape the humanistic ideals of individual personality independence,and at the same time alert the paranoid crisis of the "monologue" self,and purify the essence of Chinese and Western culture through rationality.Traditional cultural wisdom reconciles the abuses of extreme individualism,and localizes the reconstruction of the discourse of individualism,so as to achieve a deep spiritual complement.