| Han Shaogong is a very important writer since the "New Time". After 1990s, he published three long works ("The Dictionary of Maqiao", "Hint", "South To Mountain North To Water") and a series of thought prose, which were rich, profound and with originality in literature and thought. These works became a very important specimen and unique landscape. To research Hanshaogong's works since 1990s is not only a study of a single writer but also history of literature and thought. However, amid the voice of 1990s, Hanshaogong was neglected and undervalued. Generally speaking, contemporary literature did little systematic and coherent study on Hanshaogong's literature creation, although there were a few articles researching on him and two biographies (one was "Persistence and Resistance by Heyanhong and Yanywia, the other was "Biography of Hanshaogong" by Kongjian,This paper comprises chapters as follows:Introduction An overview of Hanshaogong's literature creation since 1990s. In this period, Han's creation showed three important features:1, turning from enlightenment language to humanity language. "The Dictionary of Maqiao" succeeds "Dad Dad Dad" and "Daughter Daughter Daughter" of 1980s, yet it still focuses on deeply criticizing culture negativity and national bad quality. It reflects Han's deep compassion to the tragic fate and passionate praise to the good humanity of the bottom level people, through a series of character of peasants; To a collection of essays South To Mountain North To Water and many of the short stories after the new millennium, enlightenment language has largely been replaced by humanity language,and Lu Xun has given way to Shen Cong-wen.2, turning from wandering in city to returning to countryside. He originally lived a outgoing and expansionary life, with a bi-direction circle as from "Hongweibing" to "Zhiqing", from "going to the countryside" to "returning to city. He chose city in a way of more stay and less expression. From his thought essays series since early 1990s to "Hint" published in 2002, Hanshaogong deeply reviewed and sharply criticized Chinese society and culture in turning time, which suggested his detaching from pure urban life. From his seasonally moving to Miluo since 2000 to the publication of "South to Mountain North to Water", he spiritually chose returning to countryside and a life-style which Shenchenwen described as elegant, healthy, natural and humane.3, change from linear narrative to paragraphic expression. Han's creation in 1980s, though mainly middle and short, tried a grand narrative in a traditional way of novel. But, since 1990s, "The Dictionary of Maqiao", "Hint", "South to Mountain North to Water", though as long works, took strategy of paragraphic narrative, other than linear narrative with strict logic and coherent plot. This was a change of attitude and way of thinking, more than exploration of literature style.Chapter one:story fields. Analysis the story fields of the three works of "The Dictionary of Maqiao", "Hint", "South To Mountain North To Water" and their implication, in the natural geography, history and culture. From the story field point of view, Maogongqiao in "The Dictionary of Maqiao", Taipingxu in "Hint" and Baoxidong in "South to Mountain North to Water" are very closely related but not completely the same. They could be collectively called the world of Maoqiao. In the natural geography, it is a closed and self-sufficient southern barbarian land; and in history and culture, it is the sad river of the persecution and the unknown; in emotional sense, it is Han's spiritual homeland of love and sorrow. The world of Maoqiao concentrates Hanshaogong's reading of Chinese historical bottom life and all of his emotion. Chapterâ…¡-Chapterâ…£:characters pedigree:A detailed analysis of the characters of peasants, Zhiqing and "wise-intellectuals" in Han's works. Although the above three works are different from the traditional novels which focus on shaping characters and creating plot, Hanshaogong created lots of vivid and meaningful characters. There are three kinds: one is peasants. Hanshaogong keeps concerning about peasants. He has been revealing peasants'hard fate, passionately describing their pure humanity, and bluntly criticizing their stupid habit all through his works, especially in the works of 1990s as "The Dictionary of Maqiao" and "South To Mountain North To Water". They fully reflect Han's deep understanding of peasants, his hot emotions and serious undertakings. Farmer groups beneath his pen originate Luxun's folk literature of 1930s, relay literature of countryside since the New Era, and are surely going to take a very important seat in history of Chinese contemporary literature. The second kind character is "Zhiqing", represented by the long essay series of "Hint" published in 2000 and middle novel of "Brothers" published in 2001. In these novels, Hanshaogong created a series of vivid character of "Zhiqing" with surprising calm and objective feeling and deep compassion. He wrote post-Zhiqing life of "Zhiqing"-their fate and ideological change after Chinese reforming and opening in the new century, as well as their ability-life of "Zhiqing". He described their inspired times, but didn't avoid their splitting and failure. His narrative of "Zhiqing" added new faces to his own literary character gallery, as well as to the "Zhiqing" figures gallery in Chinese contemporary literature. The third kind is "wise intellectuals" Hanshaogong created a group of "wise intellectuals" in his prose, novels and essays since 1990s. Most of them are intellectual elites who get fame by unusual or even despicable means. They are knowledge recorder, feeling extremely inferior before foreigners while extremely superior before their countrymen. Vanity, selfishness, benefits-pursuing and calculativeness which rooted in Chinese intellectuals produce this kind of persons. And they reflects the massive collapse, decadence and shamelessness of Chinese intelligentsia. Han's revealing wise intellectuals'sickness and enquiring their soul is spiritually originated from "intellectual criticism of Luxun and Kundera's theory.Chapter V:stylistic exploration. Since 1990s, Hanshaogong explored the style self-consciously and continuously in his creation. The main features of this stylistic exploration are cross-boundary, mixture and paragraphic style. His writing in this period is a writing of cross-boundary or cross-style. This cross-boundary has two paths:one is turning from novel to prose. Han created lots of thought essays and landscape notes in a period; the other path is cross the two styles of novel and prose, breaking down the barriers, fostering a Hanshaogong-style prose-novel, or say, novelized prose. Another thing Han explored was mixing a lot of elements of philosophy, narrative and lyric, etc. He adopted the way of narrating followed by commenting; commenting followed by narrating or mix narrating and commenting, forming a Han's style which has good story and comments, clear characters and deep thought. Furthermore, he also linked the boundary of long and short works by adopting scattering structure, series narrative, free combination, eye of the first-person, creating series long works which is separate and associated, seemingly unrelated but actually logically coherent, in a way of following one theme, linking characters and independent articles. Sense and sensibility, paragraph and whole are an organic unity. Generally evaluating, Hanshaogong's stylistic exploration in this period got very important achievements and experience, but also left questionable cases.Chapter VI:Art of thinking analyzing Hanshaogong's art feature of congregating perceptual thinking, rational thinking and wizard thinking.. Hanshaogong's creation pursues sense presentation lightening under sensation, which bases on sensation, and focus on sense, finding the balance. He narrates within perception, injects feeling into thought, and unites philosophic thinking and image. Reading his "South to Mountain North to Water" is a party of percepion as well as a travel of thought. You see scenery of flowers and trees, and feel pleasure from mind to heart. Besides, Hanshaogong is a rationalist, yet he has been preferred to supernatural, unusual, mysterious and absurd things. He could be an animist, a nature worshiper, and even a mystic.'Dad Dad Dad" and "Daughter Daughter Daughter", "Blue Cover", "Dictionary of Maqiao", "Hint" and "South to Mountain North to Water" all have these features. We could say that Hanshaogong created a wizard world that based in Maqiao, according to folklore and his personal experience. Han's wizard thinking comes from three aspects:one is the widely-accepted animist thinking in the world of Maqiao. The second is the wizard tradition of Hunan literature. There is a tradition of mysterious and pretty wizard poetry in Hunan contemporary, from Quyuan to Shenchenwen and Sunjianzhong, Caicehai, Canxue, Yemeng. The third one is Hanshaogong's personal literary tastes and culture pursuit. His strong interest in folk culture, bottom level society and countryside legend determined the wizard feature in his creation.Chapterâ…¦:Life Orientation. Mainly reads the cultural meaning of Hanshaogong's seasonal moving to Miluo. Han's moving to Miluo in 2000 has great symbolic significance, although it was short-term and seasonal. It marks return to village of a metropolitan individual, to homeland of a stranger, to common life of an intellectual. The return to Miluo of him is absolutely not a simple imitation of Taoyuanming, but a practical choosing with clear sensation. What he pursue is the balance between nature and civilization, while beyond the simple pastoral doctrine and progressive. He rethinks city but does not rejects civilization; he return to nature, but by no means becomes a hermit; he lives among the public but disagree with ignorance; he criticizes intellectuals but does not follow populism. Hanshaogong's life choice sets a benchmark and paradigm for Chinese intellectuals to be one who has conscience, "spirit of independence and thought of freedom" in the time of turning and globalization.
|
PDF Full Text Request