Malayan Chinese Left Wing Literature: Its Influence By China Revolutionary Literature (1926-1976)

In 1926, when"Chuang Zaoshe"(Literature Creative Society) introduced and pushed forward the"Revolutionary Literature"in China, it effectively reversed the direction of"Literary Revolution"inspired of the May Fourth Movement by incorporating literature with politics, which later evolved into literature as one of the driving force of political change which was termed it as"Revolutionary Literature". At a time where China was semi-colonized, such an idea was indeed radical and was able to propel the development of a new China.Because of historical circumstances, the"Revolutionary Literature", under the support of the Chinese Communist Party, became the literary mainstream during the communist revolutionary era, and nurtured the principal literary and political figure of Mao Zedong. Since then, whether before the liberation or after the liberation, it has led China for the past 50 years, until the end of the Cultural Revolution in 1976, where it slowly faded away from mainstream political and literature discourses.The constant change during these 50 years not only shaped China's political, economical and social structures, but had also guided the social and spiritual conscience of the Chinese people, shaped by the ever-changing"Revolutionary Literature". The literature and political movement in China was also spread to oversea, particularly to the Chinese residing in Malaya and Singapore and became the impetus to the inception of the Malaya Chinese Leftist Literary Movement (realism literature) which dominated the Malayan Chinese Literary Movement. With deeply rooted ties and the tribal spirits between China and the millions of overseas Chinese, the nationalistic fervour was spread to the Chinese in Malaya and Singapore, encouraging them to push for independence from their colonial masters. Thus, the Chinese literary movement and the Malayan Chinese Leftist Literary Movement became the thrust for political change and reforms of that time.Strictly speaking, both movements are different only on its title, with the core remained similar. The movement in Malaya was pioneered by literary figures from China, and carried on by local scribes firmly rooted in leftist literary traditions, maintaining a consistent ideology and stand over the years, pushing forward its political discourse.This thesis chronicled the history of the Chinese literary movement in five stages, from 1926– 1976, on how it influenced the movement in Malaysia. The conclusion: it was the movement in China that directed the development of the local movement. Although the local movement attempted to forge its own autonomy and uniqueness from its China counterpart from time to time, it was unsuccessful as both movements derived its literary thought and direction first from Marxism, followed by Soviet-Socialist Literature and later, Maoist ideology. Thus, the development of the local movement was tied with the circumstances of its China counterpart that was advocating proletariat literature. Later, the digression into Cultural Revolution lead to their demise, with the local movement faded out in the 1980s.Therefore, the discussion of this thesis unveiled the relationship of"Literature & Politics"as two in one. It also uncovered how both movements became subsume to politics, lost its autonomy and became merely a political tool in power mongering, which lead to their demise and an end to the'father & son'relationship between the two.