Pioneer Research And Its Context: Chinese Contemporary Avant-garde Literary Trends

Chinese contemporary avant-garde literature (to be referred to as CCAL afterward) is a concept of timeliness as well as extensity. The so-called extensity means - it is an internal branch of the whole Chinese contemporary literature. In the same period of time, it is impacted by the common cultural environment in which the other branches also exist. Although avant-garde literature (to be referred to as AL) has somewhat vague boundary with the other branches of contemporary literature (non avant-garde), what's more dominating is the apparent difference even total opposite between them. 'Avant-garde literature' has its own 'kernel', which differentiates it from all other forms of literature. And the so-called timeliness means - 'avant-garde' belongs to a history category. There is avant-garde literature in each era; however, the 'avant-garde literature' in the past era(s) would become a kind of 'system' therefore loses its nature of avant-garde. The development of 'avant-garde literature' doesn't merely follow the track of linear evolutionism, but of continuously exceeding and subrogating itself. It is not until being back to the time period that a certain kind form of literature lives, it is able to determine if the form belongs to avant-garde, and to better discuss its characteristic. Base on the above opinion, the thesis doesn't build a circumstance of 'CCAL' in advance, but combines together the question of how to determine which phenomenon are belonging to avant-garde literature which are not, with analyzing the thoughts and characteristics of avant-garde literature. Being illumined by the theory of 'literary field', the thesis sets forth a theory as some methodology. That is, superficially speaking, the reason why 'avant-garde literature' has the nature of avant-garde is because of its rebel and experimental characteristic; nevertheless, from a deeper point of view, it is because of its relative relationship with literature supporting network. When a form of literature possesses a 'supporting network' in its cultural environment, it means to be living in a kind of system so that it belongs to some 'mainstream' or 'system' literature, in the mean time, if it has neither a 'supporting network' nor a creative nature of art, it puts up to be immature literature. However, if it is not provided with a 'supporting network' but in a nature of artistic creativity, then it can be called 'avant-garde literature'. In other words, avant-garde literature is the literature with an 'open-end' to future, which escapes from the supporting network of its era. 'Avant-garde literature' always runs away from 'old supporting network' but is integrated by 'new supporting network', and then, under its own initiative (people's initiative), it can develop the useful and discard the useless systematic literary thoughts andartistic formality, thus escaping from the supporting network again. The author would like to explain that, from macro aspect, the 'AL supporting network' means the creation and transmission mechanism of AL in the 'literary field' as well as the network that composes of normal social environment, authorities, and cultural environment, and it is the necessary condition of AL to legally enter the 'literary field' structure. From micro aspect, it means the combination of various diathesis of the AL framer, including his tangible experiences, intangible knowledge and cultural environment, and his creative mental mechanism, among which the last point is the most important one - it restricts the subject to accommodate the former two capabilities but cannot be built without them.The thesis takes the relationship between AL and its supporting network as a clue to study Chinese contemporary AL trend of thought. Although it only has been more than 20 years since contemporary AL began to develop (from the end of 70s' to this day, there is also cultural revolution underground literature which is in bud phase), the normal social and cultural environment changed so much that the relationship changed accordingly as well...