What Have Intellectuals Done

Intellectuals shoulder the responsibility for expounding and building society value and ultimate sense. They usually are motors of social change and cultural transform, examine and criticize once life, traditional ideas and value thoughts, pursue new humanism. They have more radical inclination than other people. Modern Chinese intellectuals arose in social crisis, acquired western culture, and also incorporated traditional ideas. Conflict and merge of culture has formed the Chinese intellectuals'spirit, also influenced the development of modern Chinese literature.In 1970's, China had started reformation. As the deputy to the complexity of social life, intellectuals have showed very actively. On the basis of studying works, combining western intellectual theory with traditional spirit, the strong impact to intellectual consciousness because of the change of public sphere, the thesis discussed author's self-consciousness upsurge and degradation in the light of life influenced by public sphere changing, explained the culture meaning and psychological in line with works research, interpret transmutation of narrating skill.Chapter one, the thesis discriminated intellectuals'identity character and disposition in western and eastern cultural environment. Before the 20th century, Chinese intellectuals are moral bodies. One hand, they were emperor's teachers, charged with propagating and protecting the Tao, on the other, they observed the feudal order of rank or seniority in human relationships, displayed immense dependence. Western intellectuals were the products of commodity economy and private ownership. They kept independence thinking and critical spirit without compromise, showed solicitude for public matters. Second, the thesis gave a brief account of evolution of modern Chinese intellectuals and literature. in works, enlightenment and salvation interweaved, they spread knowledge, enlightened intelligence, improved outlook on life, became the mental vanguard of calling and pushing forward the social transformation. This made literature imbued with strong concept theme and ideology coloring.Chapter two, paper revealed writers'consciousness evolution according to establishment and alienation of public sphere. After the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, public sphere has been resumed and intellectuals have gotten excited in center of culture and politics consciously and unconsciously. They became spokesman of the populace and main social consciousness. The flower awareness were aroused and reached an all-time high. At the same time, western literature trend had been introduced, it made Chinese literature emerge many schools, such as hazy poetry, vanguard story, test drama, etc. In 1990's China had been changing it's direction to market-oriented economy. Public media and consume trend formed partner, material and sense consumption have triggered off a trend of education to consumption pattern and social activity to individual amusement pattern. The popular and amusement literature have been strengthened. Intellectuals have not beard responsibility of enlightening role. A lot of authors wrote their personal experience based on common customs and commerce value, subverted tradition, dispelled center, made novels'critical spirit removed and business writing erupted.Chapter three and four, there is a image figure in the course of the reformation and open to the world. It grasp the change law in line with ancient bachelor's appearance and consciousness disappeared. The images written by authors were not social critical and self-critical ones but moral victims at the beginning of smashing the Gang of Four. They are ancient intellectuals containing traditional culture and spirits. The other fictions portrayed the characters of teaching the Way and ancient scholar-officials. During the 1990's, commodity economy have intruded into spirit sphere, intellectuals'role choice and value orientation sunk into some passive, perplexed, solitude and anxious position. In some novels, idealism dispelled, flower consciousness was replaced by secular. In some novels, intellectuals have been mocked. In some novels, there are lust seeking and moral quality fission. The writing of dashed spirit and despair life made the glory of intellectuals diminished, embodied their depravity.Chapter five, article expounded the narrating character of intellectual subject matter fictions. Before mid 1980's, narration appeared some deviation of spokesman's talking. Narrator is not a thinker on his own but a social idea speaker. Novels were some sublime words with performed meaning pattern, had a purpose to interpret some social ideology. The plot of this pattern reaped stories and figures from refining the typical literary material gathered from life. After that time, writers turned into individual narrating according to drift apart mainstream of ideology and society, literature became a fable talking. Writers have not revealed intellectual's solemn and stirring destiny, but revealed the lose of their self-consciousness and fantastic existence, subverted intellectual's value and spirit stand by carnival and symbolic art. Fable talking showed a character of culture change, reflected popular aesthetic conceptions.In brief, intellectuals have been reaching the edge of society when we entered into the commodity economy and science and technology replaced the humanities. This situation deprived intellectual's rights of spokesman of times and center of society but gave them freedom spheres. It gave intellectuals a chance to rebuild themselves. They should treat themselves with right value stand and way of life based on their own current situation, keep critical attitude to reality, use self-consciousness on everything. Neither political nor secular world is their way. The sober intellectuals should keep a self-redeem awareness, be apart from secular customs, all of them is the real value and meaning of intellectuals. Intellectual theme novels are not crazy shout for chasing lust and post-modernism of dispelling intellectual identity but morality and justice duty and critical mission.