The Irrational Features Of Western Literature And Zen Research

Western rationalism takes an absolute dominant position in the course of the development of Western thoughts. Since the 19th century, as the authority of rationalism was questioned by non-rationalism, Western thoughts have undergone a deep crisis. The development of the Western Literature in the 20th century had a close ralationship with the influence of the irrational thoughts and the sense of crisis. In this thesis, "irrationalism", as a multi-dimensional academic term, is described from different angles such as the ontological aspect, the knowledge aspect, the consciousness aspect and human nature aspect, instead of being given concept or definition, so as to reveal the root cause of the crisis in Western thoughts. Eastern thoughts have been integrated with the Western ones for the purpose of their own cultural reconstruction and they have become more and more conspicuous in the Wsetern world. Zen has constantly drawn the attention of the West because it possesses Eastern characteristic in the eyes of the West and it is regarded as a marginalized thoughts that oftern appear in the Western perspective. Therefore, we can always feel irrationalism is approaching to Zen when it is under description.Initiated in the 19th century, symbolist movement was a wake-up call to the Western realization of the consciousness of life. Through Baudelaire's sense poems, we could see he realize the hidden links between life and all other things in nature and emphasize an equal dialogue among all the creatures. From other poets of Symbolism, whose poems have the characteristics of non-rationalism and who show a completely different temperament from the Western world; such as in Rimbaud's poems the "psychic", in Mallarme's poems the "unlimited", in Valery's the "eternal", in Yeats's the "Wonderland", and in Eliot's the "experience", we find Zen continually in all of them. Pound's imagist poetry has a distinct Eastern complex. Whether from his translation of Chinese poetry, or from the oriental images used in his poetry, we could find a relation with Zen in both of them. Along with the further awakening of consciousness of life in the later half of the 20th century, ecological holism has profoundly revealed the relationship between men and the nature. People are no longer the high upper main part, but only a part of the nature. In his writings and especially in his new released book "Urania", Le Clezio's, the winner of the 2008 Nobel Prize in literature, have shown a Zen world. His consciousness of life goes beyond the eco-egalitarian view of life, which blows to us the concept of Zen sweetly.When studying the 20th century Western literature, we find a key problem that is human being, as a subject of existence is being terminated which troubles the Western world the most. Conrad's sea novels show a person loses himself and they reveal the sense of crisis of human being in the Western world. Asking "Who Am I" in O Neill's drama exposes human's incapablility of exploring their own heart. Then it gives rise to the thinking of Zen which is contrary to the no difference and dualistic thinking. Kafka's novel represents the confusion of that time. With a plain narrative style, he tells the story of a people turining into a pest. He expressed the hope of Zen life in an unobvious way. Castle reflects Kafka was caughted in the trouble of self-certification, and the writer built a chaotic system in it. The ambiguous relationship between K and the Castle eventually eliminates the difference between K and the Castle, that is, K is the castle, or the castle is K. Kafka's novel also reflects the non-consideration, non- difference in Zen.Modern psychology and psychoanalysis reveal the activities of irrational consciousness, which had a profound impact on the Western psychological novels. The features of Proust's novel---- the rolling world and intuitionism have a close tie with the consciousness and Bergson's intuitionism. The hidden ontology and epistemology in Bergson's intuitionism make him cannot grasp the fresh state of life. Joyce's"novels"in which used the unconscious writing, endless allusions, obscurity of words make all the rational and irrational way of thinking muted, but the non-ideological, non-concept Zen does not get trapped among the obstacles in the "novels". What's more, it can lead people out of the puzzle and let people suddenly see the light. Woolf carried out unrestrained experiment, so her novels did not fall into any kind of typical modernity, or stream of consciousness novels. Therefore, her novels have their own characterisrics. Writers'experiments are to discard rules and to free the mind .Unhumanity characteristics of modern industrial civilization set off the spiritual appeal in Western literature to return to the nature. Facing the reality, in which the powerful industrial culture was swallowing the natural of person, Lawrence advocated "bloody sense" and "uncouscious" to confront the industrial civilization, which had the same concept with the non-considerarion of Zen. William Faulkner's South Complex is a vague nostalgic perspective. In his later works, he even tended to show the original sentiments in his aesthetic choice. The tough men under the pen of Hemingway display the power of bravery, which holds the characteristics of original thinking. Their way of thinking is more natural and more direct, which means that they are closer to the way of life experienced by Zen Buddhist .The Western absurdness is deeply influenced by the Western social context and background, but it is also trying to ge rid of the spiritual appeal of absurdness in order to get close to Zen. The existentialism has revealed the existence is surely a kind of fantastic, either constrained by others and trapping in the absurdness of losing oneself, or to struggle to fall into an absurdness of meaninglessness. The struggle of outsiders is inevitablely caught into the absurdness and enentually they will realize the happiness of"no me"as a Zen Buddhist. Saul Bellow's spiritual quest involves all walks of life, and the spiritual world of him is also complex. The ultimate return of his spirit scattered all over the metaphysical thinking, is in the final complex of nature.