Marxist Discourse In Modern Chinese Literary Theory (1919～1949)

It has been one century since Marxist theory as a literary thought spread to China. The intervention of Marxist discourse is an epoch-marking event during the course of reformation of Chinese modern literary theory. If the reformation of Chinese literary theory from the ancient time to modern era is a kind of renovation of linguistic form, it can be said that the dissemination of Marxist discourse in modern literary theory is an internal and essential revolution. It has not only brought changes to the mode of speech in Chinese traditional literary theories, but also brought a thoroughly new idea based on materialist dialectics so as to enrich the content of the discourse of modern Chinese literary theory and rewrite the overall pattern of modern Chinese literary theory.The author notices that in the formation of history of modern Chinese thoughts, the intervention of Marxist discourse is not an accidental event. It is always expressed as a kind of stylized thesis of combination of universal truth and actual practice. However, such problems as where this truth's universality is; how about the context of actual practice; what on earth we can combine universality to actual practice; what variation it will bring about in the course of combination are seldom concerned by people. Even they are discussed, most of them are not delved into. This dissertation, through a recalling of the historical development of the history of modern Chinese thoughts, holds that this course actually involves an arduous change and it is a course of identification of the Chinese nation and a course of quest for spiritual forefathers by the ideological elites of modern China.In the process of formation of modern Chinese literary theories, the intervention of Marxist also underwent a similar process of development. Just as the course of modern Chinese thoughts, it developed in a clear and logical way. In this way, it provided us an explicit "topographic map" of development in thoughts: during the period of "the May 4 th" New Cultural Movement, the entire imagination of scientism assimilated the theory of evolution. The assimilation of the theory of evolution laid a solid ideological foundation for the spread of the materialist conception of history as well as the reception of materialist dialectics. The dissemination of Marxist discourse from ideological field to all the fields of social life resulted in a fundamental revolution in the thought of literature and art in modern China. The special appeal to the realistic thought in literature and art, to a certain degree, can be regarded as the literary experiment of materialist conception of history.The dissertation will lay its emphasis not only on the causes and ways of Marxist discourse's intervention to modern Chinese theory of literature and art, but also in the variation of thought in the formation of modern Chinese literary theory. The author, drawing from the reception theory, the variation theory in the comparative literature studies and two important concepts in Edward Said's "Traveling Theory"—"history" and "situation", is meant to make an exploration to the variations of Marxist theory in the course of the traveling of theory. Choosing several literary theorists representative of modern Chinese history of literary and artistic thought as case studies, the author analyzes the concrete course of its variation and attempts to delve into the possibilities and realities of the sinicized Marxist literary theory.In sum, after drawing a "topographic map" of the spread of Marxist theory of literature and art in modern China, the author lays its emphasis on the discussion of several kinds of theoretical variations of Marxist narration in the theory of literatureand art in modern China: Firstly, the variation of class nature in literature. According to Engles, in Marxist theory, the materialist conception of history and the theory of surplus value are the greatest contributions to the history of human's thought. In the process of the spread of Marxism to the world, the above two theories, combined with the theory of class struggle, are the three legacies of Marxism. However, in the course of the dissemination of Marxism to China, the materialist conception of history and the theory of class struggle were overemphasized. This is not only, closely related with the turbulent situation and the social stratum in modem China, but related with the reception and spread of the Soviet Union ways as well. The international environment of the Soviet Union made the Soviet Union in the storm of political struggle. As a result, it is natural that the Soviet Union rely on class struggle. China's reception of the theory of class struggle, however, is based on the complex historical situation of modern China and the spiritual archetype in Chinese traditional culture. As for the dispute of Chinese Left-wing literary arena in the 1930s, class nature is both the tension and the fetters of literature. It is because this literary and artistic debate on the nature of revolution and class, "class nature" was placed in a high position in literature in the 1940s. Therefore, it underwent a change from "rationality" to "legitimacy".Secondly, the variation of realistic theory in literature. Realism occupied an important position in Marxist thought of literature and art. In the development of Marxist theory of literature and art, realism underwent several changes, and it has different meanings in different historical stages. Realism in modern Chinese literary and artistic theory was influence by the Soviet Union. As a result, it has the traits of "socialistic realism". Based on this understanding, the author attempts to find out the common ideas and the disparities between them so as to explore the variation of realism in the literary and artistic thought in modern China.Thirdly, the variation of the problem of the "affinity to the people". The author is not going to examine the epoch-making event—Mao Zedong and its "Speech in Yan'an Forum on literature and art "—themselves, but efforts to explore the formation of Mao Zedong's literary and artistic thoughts and his mass aesthetical intention of the "affinity to the people". Starting from the meta-discourse of Marxist "affinity to the people", the author attempts to quest for the variations of this "affinity to the people" in the development of Marxist discourse. The changes from the concept of "man" that has the feature of humanism to the mass aesthetical intention of "people's literature" are very complicated. It not only enriched the concrete content of Marxist literary and artistic thoughts, but also broadened the vision of aesthetic judgment in literature.The sinicized Marxist literary and artistic theory is a historical process which has undergone continuous changes. The reasons why the author will lay its emphasis on the period from 1919 to 1949 lie in the following facts: firstly, although the author agrees on and draws some ideas from Huang Ziping and Chen Pingyuan's ideas on "20^th century's Chinese literature", the author still follows the usual practice of the classification of "ancient literature", "modern literature" and "contemporary literature"; Secondly, the author is afraid that the author is lacking in energy and ability. As a result, although the author may define the existing periods, the author is afraid that the list is far from complete. Thirdly, it is necessary to stick to the principle of Political Correctness within the system.At last, it is necessary to point out that "Marxist discourse" in this dissertation is the system of knowledge from the basic theory, ideas and mode of thought by classic Marxists, including the literary and artistic thoughts of classic Marxists. However, the concepts such as "Western Marxism" and "New Marxism" in contemporary academic circles are excluded from the "Marxist discourse" in this dissertation.