Sentimental: The Experience And Expression Of The Modern Chinese Intellectuals

Pathos is not only a common status of human emotion, but also an import aspect in literature presentation. Either in ancient times or in modern era, pathos, as an important sentimental resource, can always be found in author's sentimental character or in his narrative writing. So far, however, little research work has been done to explore and deepen the theoretical aspects of pathos. By studying the pathos experience of modern Chinese clerisy and their manners of expression, this paper tries to probe into the relationship between the very essence of pathos and literature writing for the purpose of summarizing and constructing Pathos poetics of modern China.This paper is divided into five chapters. The exordium expounds the origin of this research, the trends of thought, the methods, the object of research and its range.Chapter one focuses on the study of noumenon of pathos and gives the definition of pathos from the perspectives of sentimental attribute, poetic category, trends of thought in literature, etc. As a common status of human emotion, pathos can actually occur to everyone if he or she is stirred up by reality. However, not all pathos can be classified as art. In daily life pathos can be painful, but aesthetic pathos is more thought-provoking. Pathos in art is mainly derived from subjects'"sentimental introspection", and it is the ability of sentimental introspection that endows them with deeper appreciation of people and things in the real world than those ordinary. Literature is a subject of humanity and genuine art should face all kinds of circumstances in daily life and give original expression for sufferings of man's interior soul in the social, historical and individual struggling process. Any kind of literature work portraying human soul can not fence with pathos. The essence of art lies in the successful transformation from pathos experience to an aesthetic form.More often than not, Pathos is mixed up with such emotions or concepts as romance, melancholy, sadness, or even decadence. This kind of theoretical confusion can hinder the precise definition of pathos. This paper will thus discriminate meticulously by clarifying distinctions between different categories and illustrating their trivial differences.Chapter two emphasizes particularly on the differentiation and analysis of China's and western theoretical resources of pathos, especially on the pursuit of modern Chinese pathos poetics and its theoretical construction. No matter in the western world or China, the research into the poetic category of pathos is far from being enough. All through the ages, the Western Aesthetics emphasizes the study of tragedy while paying no special attention to pathos. From Socrates, Plato to Medieval Aquinas, and then to Hegelian, pathos has always been regarded as a"feeble"or"sick"emotion rejected by people. The category of"resentment"in Chinese Classical aesthetics shows great similarity to pathos, but it has not developed into an integrated theoretical system. The famous saying"poetry can express resentment"given by Confucius has great impact upon literature, but its main purpose is to emphasize the function of"poetic instruction"rather than the exploration of emotion itself.The pursuit of modern Chinese pathos poetics is both the continuum of traditional Chinese pathos poetics and the result of influence from western pathos poetics as well. But it is not just a kind of simple imitation or transplant. Taking root in modern Chinese context, the modern pursuit of pathos poetic belongs to the aesthetic experience of both individuals and colonies, and is a kind of modern aesthetic experience. As an aesthetic dimension of China's modern literature, pathos cannot be separated from modern Chinese cultural context.Chapter three expatiate the pathos experience of modern Chinese clerisy by depicting their life stories such as scarred memory, marginalized status and extravagated life. An individual's psychology we discover in a literature work is sometimes the representation of the psychology of a certain era. Pathos in literature is derived from the writer's pathos in spirit and has a close relationship with the writer's character, life experience and aesthetic taste, and thus the result of writer's subjective choice. In this sense, to represent pathos is to re-play history. The modern Chinese pathos results from the social cataclysm and individual endurance of the sufferings in this age. To dig into the style and features of pathos in novels, to explore the writers'subtle emotion in the course of social development, and to study the projection which an era's reality and fashion have on those writers, are all effective ways to comprehend that passage of history.Chapter four shows the trend of pathos in modern novels and its aesthetic transition. The modern Chinese pathos has always been related with the modernity of literature. In the course of pathos transition and theme creation, pathos literature completes its own construction of aesthetic character. The trend of pathos in modern novel is derived from modern clerisy's experience of the reality. In the modernization course of Chinese literature, enlightenment, revolution and national salvation no doubt form the discourse mainstream. However, as a unique and sensitive group, the writers'subjective feelings in certain times are surely complex. With the rise and fall of the movements like enlightenment and revolution, some writers would necessarily document their special feelings about life based on their interior requests, and thus show deviation from the discourse mainstream in their literature production. From the May 4th Movement of 1919 to Great Revolution, Anti-Japanese War and to China's War of Liberation, the surge of pathos is witnessed by history. Manshu Su, known for his unique style, is the originator of modern romantic pathos novel. The literature works during Wusi (May 4th) period are mostly of apparent pathos, and Dafu Yu succeeded in setting the aesthetic pattern for modern pathos lyric prose. Later on, with the fluctuation of social environment, the pulse and center of thought trend correspondingly change too. Writers attach more importance to social life. They are thus concerned more about the future of their country, the social development and the well-beings of ordinary people. Meanwhile, the tropism of literature value and aesthetics become more diversified. It is the same with pathos in this age compared with that centralized, strong and typical kind of pathos in the Wusi period.Chapter five focuses on the study of the narration and the conveyance manner. In the process of Chinese novel modernization, the first person pronoun"I"has always been connected with pathos since its first appearance. To say"I"feel is likely to express emotions and lead to pathos. It is Lu Xun that constructs and deepens the introspective feature of"I", that brings"I feel"into rational thinking, thus transcending the emotion of pathos. Epistolary diary is a favorite carrier for pathos writers. Diary can facilitate self-narration which mostly contains"self-sorrow","self-pity"and"self-love". Thus, to fashion diary into novel and move others and society with personal pathos becomes an important method which can combine pathos and times. Many epistolary diaries illustrate the very essence of this kind of pathos. However, the third person narration in pathos literature is somewhat dialectic, from self-narrating to self-debating, leading to the gradual disappearance of pathos.Most of the time, the presentation of reminiscence is brought about by the pathos of creative subjects'feelings, and the intensity of the feelings tends to differ in the different space and time. The revelation of the feelings to the"present period"often shows the stronger emotional impulsion, for it is direct reaction to the reality. Since the creative subjects have no time to find the objective corresponding things to the feelings to describe delicately, the style of direct revelation becomes the basic narrative manner. As time goes on, What the writers experience turns the past events happening long, long ago, and the literature works becomes the recall and recollection of the past, by which the aesthetic distance is produced. As a result such kind of reminiscence grows much worth tasting due to its long distance and time.