Out Of Darkness To Embrace New Life

Being one of the most influential literary theorists in the20th century, Georg Lukács has exerted astrong influence on Chinese contemporary literature, literary theory and culture, which makes his literarythoughts a worthwhile object to study. The thesis, therefore, aims at an exploration of the propagation aswell as the acceptance of Lukács' literary thoughts in China from the perspective of the effect ofcomparative literature. Against the background of contemporary cross cultural communication betweenChina and the West, this dissertation explores the relationship between the influence and the acceptance ofLukács' literary thoughts in China systematically, so as to present a more complete overview of thereception of Lukács' literary theory in China.This paper, taking the above-mentioned topic as its thesis, is divided into three major parts: the preface,the body and the conclusion. The preface begins with a review and survey of the development of Lukács'literary theory to illustrate the importance of his literary thoughts in his life, highlighting his worldwideinfluence. It then goes on with a detailed elaboration of the purpose and the significance of the research.With the previous relevant studies on the dissemination and acceptance of Lukács' literary theory in Chinaanalyzed and the deficiencies of them brought to light, the procedure and methodology of the study isproposed.The body of this dissertation consists of four chapters. Chapter Ⅰ,"The Translations of Lukács'sWorks in China", studies diachronically the translations of Lukács works in China and the related socialand cultural background of each period. With the change of Chinese ideology and cultural policy in view,the paper divides the translations of Lukács works in China into three periods, that is, before the foundingof the People's Republic of China(1935—1949), the early days of new China (1949—1976))and the dayssince the reform and opening up policy was implemented(1977—2011), the respective characteristics ofwhich is that the beginning in the mistranslation, the development in a major setback and the deepadvancement in the prosperity. In addition, this part sorts out, analyzes and rectifies some historicaldocuments of translation and introduction of Lukács. Chapter Ⅱ, chapter Ⅲ and chapter Ⅳ probe into the influences of Lukács' theories of class consciousness, realism and materialization on Chinese literature andliterary theory respectively from a synchronic perspective, and discuss the criticism and reception of themby Chinese scholars. Chapter Ⅱ analyzes the relationship between Lukács and the ideology of Chinesewriters in the context of the indirect influence, and suggests that Lukács' theory of class consciousness wasfirst introduced to Japan by Fubenism and then was brought into China by the members of thepost-Creation Club, besides, Chinese modern writers and theorists such as the members of thepost-Creation Club and Lu Xun were all influenced greatly by Lukács' theory of class consciousness.Chapter Ⅲ surveys the effect of Lukács' theory of realism in China, which not only has had stimulated theliterary writing and theoretical development of Hufeng-represented July school, but also has arousedwidespread concern of the scholars since the1980s, and brought about a large-scale, long argumentation inChinese literature field concerning the debate on realist issues between Lukács and Brecht, making amarked impact on the development of Chinese contemporary literature and Marxist literary. Chapter Ⅳnarrates the influence of Lukács' theory of materialization on Chinese contemporary literature, literarytheory and culture, summarizes some characteristics of Chinese scholars' receptions in different historicalphases, and analyzes their historical contexts. Before the founding of the People's Republic of China,theadoption of Lukács' theory of materialization by Chinese scholars falls into two phases: the late1920s andthe period from1930s to1940s. In the former period, the post-Creation Club shows too much emphasis onthe characteristic of proletarian class consciousness in assimilating proletarian revolutionary literature;while in the latter period, what the reception of Hufeng-represented July school of Lukács' theory ofrealism stressed is the Humanitarianism. Since the reform and opening up of China, the reception ofLukács' theory of materialization in China goes through three stages, that is, the requirement phase of theHumanitarianism; the defining phase to enter the context of Marxism and the assimilating phase of thediversity development.After the above careful exploration and analysis, the study comes to the following conclusions. Firstly,Lukács has been an unexhausted "text", and the value and meaning of his thoughts are transnational andcross-period. Secondly, Lukács' literary theory shows academical as well as practical value in theconstruction of literary theory and culture in China, not only promoting the diversity and deep developmentof Marxist literary theory, but also strengthening the attention paid to human subjectivity. Thirdly, it is significant to study the travel of Lukács' literary thoughts in China, since it can help to reveal the influenceof Lukács' theories on current researchers and summarize the general models for the introduction of alienculture. Finally, the future tendency of Lukács' literary theories in China: his theories, especially his spiritof realism, the criticism of materialism and Humanitarianism, which have been one part of Marxist theoryof literature, will be of great theoretical value and practical significance to Marxist theory of literature andart of Chinese characteristic and the social culture in contemporary China as well.