A Study On Sex Love Narrations In Chinese Novels Of The 20～(th) Century

Based on a study on the sex love narrations in Chinese novels since the May 4th Movement of 1919, this dissertation probes the evolving process of fictional sex love narrations and the sex consciousness they embody in the 20^th century as well as their period characteristics, summarizes further the features of sex love consciousness evolvement and thus reveals the cultural and psychological characteristics reflected in sex love narrations from the aspects of national and life consciousness respectively. It is pointed out that there has been a process of bolder sex love descriptions, pluralism of sex concepts and a gradual establishment of ontological sex status, the main reasons for which are that the representation of "human being" has gradually been paid greater attention to and has gained certain importance and that the subjectivity of human being has been emphasized unprecedentedly. It is also pointed out that an understanding of the Chinese' complex and contradictory attitudes towards sex in the modern times can also be obtained through the research on the evolvement of sex love narrations. Besides, there has long existed a pursuit of and reflection upon the universal value in the Chinese novels of the 20^th century, which, however, has gradually been lost in practice.This dissertation is consisted of four chapters. Chapter one is mainly a summarization of sex consciousness characteristics reflected in ancient Chinese erotic novels before the May 4th Movement of 1919, including conquest consciousness, revel consciousness, sex guiltiness consciousness, and man-centralized consciousness. Chapter two is mainly an assortment of the development and features of sex love narrations and sex consciousness in the 20^th century. From May 4th Movement of 1919 to the 1920s, sex love narrations in Chinese novels were rather an enlightenment and liberation in that particular era with four characteristics. Firstly, sexual desire was endowed with rationality with regard to liberation of human nature and mutual love. Secondly, with an epochal concern for a stronger and superior race, greater attention was paid to sexual parties concerned, mainly physically. Thirdly, new ethics on sex were promoted in that personal freedom on sex love was emphasized and sex love became an important way of self-fulfillment. Therefore, independence of sex love was advocated and the scope of sex love was also widened. Fourthly, the sex consciousness of this period had the mixed features of the past and the contemporary. Sex love narrations in the 1930s and 1940s showed a further exploration on the theme of human nature. First of all, sex was restored to a kind of desire. ShenCongwen probed the importance of harmonious sex love to a sound personality and Shi Zhecunrevealed that sexual inhibition could lead to the distortion, even frenzy of human nature. Bothexplored the influence and functions of sexual desire as human nature upon human personality,giving prominence to the irresistibleness of sexual desire and the significance of sexual desire asa motive. Then, human bodies driven by sexual desire were described and given greater attentionto. Next, ethics on sex were deconstructed either by Shen Congwen who opposed man-madeethics with law of nature and the School of New Sensation who replaced traditional ethics on sexwith exchange rules in consumption, or by Shi Zhecun who spared no efforts in representing thecomplete failure of social rules, including ethics on sex, due to the impact from sexual desire.The direct effect was a paleness of the ethical binding force on sex. Last, sex consciousness inthe works of female writers emerged. In the early works of Ding Ling, the sexual desire of thefemale is no longer a ramification of emotion but an independent one. In addition, in the sex lovenarrations of other female writers, such as Mei Niang, strong self-consciousness on the socialstatus of the female is also reflected. Sex love narrations in the late 1970s and early 1980s wereactually a re-enlightenment in the spirit of humanism, whose major features include humanisticlegitimation of sex love within the boundary of ethics, a blend of sex love narrations withnational concepts and national myths as well as the aesthetic, poetic descriptions of humanbodies etc. In the middle and late 1980s, sex love narrations entered a stage of exploration forpluralism. First, by restoration of sexual desire, writers of this era restored human nature, thevery original state of human being. Different emphasis and tendencies could be seen in differentwriters: looking at sex love dialectically and trying to describe its creative as well as destructivecharacteristics; connecting sex love with violence and trying to reveal the evil side of humannature through it; emphasizing the creativeness of sex love especially in the heritage of"wildness". Second, one writer after another began to deconstruct the divineness of love, evenlove itself. Third, the symbolic connotations of sex were broadened. Fourth, femaleconsciousness and female gender self-consciousness began to emerge in sex love narrations. Sexlove narrations of the 1990s were one of the strategies taken to fight against the marginalizationof fiction creation. Its characteristics include narrative colloquialism and straightforwardness,greater tolerance shown to sex love concepts, for instance, sex and love can be separated and sex itself will be regarded as its essence etc. Furthermore, body is not only the object of desire, but also a mechanism of desire. At the same time, sex love narrations concerning individual or personal bodies also emerged. Chapter three analyzes the characteristics of sex consciousness evolvement in the 20^th century from three aspects: (1) the change of sex concepts. First of all, the perception on the value of sex has changed. Generally speaking, the purpose of procreation weakened. On the contrary, the importance of sex in the domain of human nature and gender relations was enhanced gradually. Next, the notion about human body has changed from a carrier of spirit to a materialized and organized being. Last, ethics on sex tended towards a coexistence of tolerance and pluralism in general. (2) The evolvement of gender relations and genderconsciousness. Two forms of gender relations—alienation and alignment were represented andthe former was generally superior to the latter in number, which was especially true in the 1990s. The female's gender self-awareness and gender self-consciousness have witnessed a process of gradual strengthening, but in the works of neorealist female writers a secular tendency could be found. (3) The relationship between sex love narrations and self-consciousness in modern personality. Firstly, the formation of self-consciousness followes this procedure: relationship between " the mass and me"→"others and me"→"me" and self. Secondly, the notion of freedom which is closely linked with self-consciousness shaped three traditions: one, a connection of freedom with social domains, collective cohesion and rights and duties of citizens with political freedom regarded as the basis of personal freedom. Two, freedom was perceived as a representation of innate or true self. Three, through the dilemma of a want for freedom and inability or unwillingness for freedom, a suspended freedom, the reply to which is in delay forever, was represented. Chapter four focuses on cultural and psychological characteristics embodied in sex love narrations from the aspects of national and life consciousness respectively. The representation of national consciousness in sex love narrations before 1990s has witnessed gradual symbolic prominence and a deeper exploration for a major component in nationalconsciousness—consciousness for the unexpected development. The perception for theconcept of nation has gone from a sensational one to a rational one, and a divine one to a secular one. The presentation of life consciousness before the middle 1980s was mainly in the form of a value endowed to life and death through "Tao" and the only difference lied in the different connotations of "Tao". After that, the value of life and death has gradually been cleared up and finally ended up in nothingness. At the same time, the notion of death began to bear the characteristics of rationalism and naturalism, except in the works of few female writers whose life consciousness still had the tendency of spiritual salvation.