From The "new Youth" To The "new Youth"

The central issue of this thesis is reading activity on the NewYouth. It describes reading life of young people of the May Fourth Era, and researches how reading activity moulded the Youths of the May Fourth Era.The NewYouth is one of the most important magzines in China in 20th century. It has important influence on society and culture of the May Fourth Era, just through reading activity. Reading became a power, which is the result of the media development of mordern China, prosperity of publishment and appearance of new readers. The Youths of the May Fourth Era is the main body of new readers and the readers of The NewYouth aswell. The NewYouth,through abundant Youth Discourse, interprates the nature of the youths; the youths, by reading The NewYouth, bring out their self-consciousness. The development of this self-consciousness results in youth worship, which means that"youth"itself represents value. Actually,"youths"are diferent, they are of diferent generations,and they are new or old, radical or rational, and these diference decides what the Youths of the May Fourth Era are like.Firstly, The New Youth is an epoch-making publication, and it has important influence on moulding the spirit of the era and giving rise to shared feeling of intellectuals. However, the magzine results in approval as well as breaking up, and so the generational conflict comes into being which determines the character of the young people to rebel.Secondly, The New Youth is also a representative of the new publication during the May Fourth Era. Young people take reading the magzine as a symble of being a new youth. But, old or new cannot be distinguished as black and white,because old readers can also be new ones, although magzines are diferent as old or new, and the two status of readers even can transform .Fanally, during development, The New Youth has taken a political turn on its interest , from thoughts and literature to politics and revolution. Correspondingly, readers of the magzine, the Youths of the May Fourth Era, becaome more and more radical , fromand their radicalism stems from their experience of moral life. It is by reading The New Youth that the Youths of the May Fourth Era take onto the way from rebellling family to reform society.