Aileen Chang And English Literature

The dissertation discusses the literature relationship between Aileen Chang and English literature deeply and systematically.The first part mainly researches the basic outline of Aileen Chang and English literature,analyses the objective background of Aileen Chang's reception of English literature as well as the resonance and possible practical influence between them.The second part aims at better understanding of Aileen Chang and the specific English writer.By this way,we can think about the indistinct similarity between them and trace the absorbtion, application and transformation of Aileen Chang's reception of English literature.The purpose is to make a clear picture for Aileen Chang and English literature and keep Aileen Chang and the specific English writer's integrity at the same time.Besides, to reveal the rich relationship between the single writer and the whole complex English literature.The contents of the first part are as follows:The first chapter outlines the writing process of Aileen Chang according to her life and emotions,including analysing the change and development,discribing the general relationship of Aileen Chang's different periods with foreign literature and discussing the influence of her own experience of life and emotions to her English literature reading.The second chapter mainly traces about Aileen Chang's relationship with English literature from the objective background of her family envionment,learning experiences and social atmosphere at that time, etc. Moreover, this chapter probes the image of England written by Aileen Chang and the English literature she read and contacted.The third chapter is more subjectively towards Aileen Chang's option to English literature.We can find that the rational and on-look depiction, the theme of city life and the sense of vanishing in English literature generates resonance in Aileen Chang's heart and also, makes her closer to English literature by the mutual understanding.Paticularlly, the sense of vanishing is the key for the resonance between Aileen Chang and English literature,which is also very important for her life consciousness development.The fourth chapter talks about the English literature's practical influence to Aileen Chang on the whole.It mainly represents on three aspects:the feminine image and the view about marriage,the human perspective,and the art of irony,which show great differences from Chinese traditional literature.However,all of these have been transformed, changed and fused to different degrees through Aileen Chang's assimilation and learning.Under the background of English literature's overall influence,there have rich relations between Aileen Chang and different English writers she interested in,which includes not only the influence of mental understanding,the story,but also the other aspects like the figure,the artistic expression.The contents of the second part are as follows:The fifth chapter focuses on the writing connection between Aileen Chang and George Bernard Shaw.The reason why Aileen Chang appreciates Bernard Shaw is not only lies in their similar experience and literature dream,but also because that she can find heart resonance from Bernard Shaw's works.Aileen Chang likes and enjoys the rational wisdom,the ordinary spirit and the irony art in Bernard Shaw's works.What's more,Bernard Shaw's attenion to women and women's vatality have inspired and deepened Aileen Chang's knowledge to them to some extent.But instead of just cut and paste them directly, Aileen Chang transforms them creatively by instilling her own experience and acute art sense.The sixth chapter is on Aileen Chang and Aldous Leonard Huxley. What impresses Aileen Chang most is Huxley's doubtness and inquiry about life.Huxley's scepticism not only deepens Aileen Chang's uncertain realization of history, society,and civilization,but also her thinking to individuals at the same time which leads her to regard Huxley as one of her favorite writers.While later,different understanding about sceptical orientation causes distance between them.Besides,the cold writing and materied style in Huxley's works also strengthens Aileen Chang's sense of art and increases the attraction of her works. The seventh chapter is centered on the connection concerning the artistic expression of short novels and the foreign image between Aileen Chang and William Somerset Maugham.Compared with the appreciation of Maugham's story-telling style which made Aileen Chang pay much attention to the story,Aileen Chang focuses more on the inspiration of thought behind the picture of story.And on the art of irony,she also cares about the deep meaning.So we can find the artistic expression of Aileen Chang's short novels is more profound than Maugham's.In addition,on the foreign image,it combined Aileen Chang's sensitive realization from Maugham's works with her own understanding to humble individual life,consquently shows more extensive view and pushes the problem of culture conflicts to a deeper thinking.The eighth chapter studies about the influence of Herbert George Wells's pessimist prediction and imagination as well as his book The Outline of History:Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind which is about the natural evolution of man to Aileen Chang.Wells's pessimist prediction and imagination intricates Aileen Chang's feeling of uncertainness to individual life behind the picture of ruined human civiliazation.That is to say,Aileen Chang pays more attention to the limitation of the individual existance.In addition,Wells's The Outline of History:Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind has enhanced Aileen Chang's unbelieving notion about the prelife and afterlife and helped her to form a better understanding of this life.The ninth chapter comes about David Herbert Lawrence and Aileen Chang.Lawrence's most significant influence to Aileen Chang lies in the depiction of human subconscious activity by applying symbolized image which contains rich connotation.While at the same time,Aileen Chang also learns a lot from Lawrence's life consciousness as well as the portrayal of specific characters.In anyway,Aileen Chang is not a passive follower, she has added her art peculiarity and thought of life into the description of character's mental space, the moon image and other concrete details.The conclusion part generalizes the whole characteristic of Aileen Chang's reception of English literature,and makes the evaluation of Aileen Chang's achievements.Furthermore,the author of the dissertation writes down her realization and enlightenment from the Aileen Chang research.