A Research On The Mother Motif Of "Man"--From Ancient Greece To The 18～(th) Century

The probe into the meanings and values of life itself is the in-depth agent of the evolution of the Western culture. And the Western literature that develops on this cultural soil reverberates with the voice of self-questioning by man on himself from beginning to end,permeating with profound consciousness of life and implication of human nature.This dissertation holds that rationality and primitive desire are the two aspects that are both opposite and complementary to each other in human nature. The Graeco-Roman literature of the type of the primitive desire and the Hebrew literature of the type of the rationality evolve into the heterogeneous cultural categories that are both opposite and complementary,because each of the two literatures contains the dual connotation that is both opposite and unified. The ancient Graeco-Roman literature embodies the infinite vigour of life of the primitive inhabitants,whereas the Hebrew-Christian literature restrains the primitive life power of man,displays the pursuit of the nature of rationality by man,and there also exists the contraction of the subjectiveress of man and the progress and sublimation of the self-understanding of man. This dissertation comprehends and grasps the ancient Graeco-Roman literature and culture,and the Hebrew-Christian literature and culture,discloses their opposite and complementary features,thus puts in order the gradual progression of the mother motif of "man" in the evolution of the culture and civilization of the Western literature from ancient Greece to the 18th century,and explores their in-depth implication of the human nature and the connotation of culture,in order to construct the basic frame of the evolution of the concept of "man" in the Western literature.This dissertation consists of six chapters. The first chapter expounds the cultural connotation of the stories of the birth of "man" in the mythologies of ancient Greece and Hebrew. In the second chapter the author analyzes the opposite and complementary features of the primitive desire and rationality in the ancient Graeco-Roman literature and the Hebrew-Christian literature. The third chapter deals with the humaneness of the Western literature and culture of the Middle Ages,and itsconnection with the Renaissance culture and literature. The fourth chapter discusses the relationship of the collision and fusion of the cultural tradition of Hellas and Greece in the humanistic literature of the Renaissance. The relationship between the classicistic literature and the political rationality of the 17th century is dealt with in the fifth chapter. In the sixth chapter the author expounds the cultural connotation and cultural containability of the image of "natural man" in the literature of the Enlightenment Movement.Taking "man" as a basic point and combining culture and literature,this dissertation dissects the literature under the cultural background and the "man" in the literature from the aspect of cultural antinomy,which endows literary research with cultural foundation and prevents it from diverging from literature and alienating into "cultural research".This dissertation transcends the general discussion of "humanism" in the past,goes into the deep structure of the Western literature,sketches the basic frame of the mother motif of "man",thus deepens the understanding of the connotation of human nature in the Western literature.In this dissertation the author takes the basic theories and methods of Marxism as a guideline,especially takes the Marxist thought and theoryon man as a basis,uses such modern criticisms as anthropological approach and archetypal approach in the Western culture,profoundly explores the implication of human nature in the Western literature,and makes distinct innovations in both the research methods and the research concepts.The 20th century China will be subject to a greater influence from the Western culture,and in some aspects will be similar to the modern society of the Western countries;therefore,the reflections upon the state...