Life Meaning Reconstructed And Its Limits

This paper starts from the analysis of a letter appeared on China Youth titled So far, So narrow, the Way of Life on 5,1980, with the pseudo-name Pan Xiao. Tracing back her life experience in Mao's China, Pan announced in this letter explicitly her disillusionment about the idealism she once embraced whole-heartedly. While at the same time, she is influenced by her structure of psyche which is deeply shaped by the very idealism she now does not believe. According to this structure, there must be some ideal being in the place, no matter what ideal it is. Thus comes the dilemma of Pan Xiao: on the one hand, the idealism of Mao's time becomes notorious, and on the other hand, Pan is very thirsty for some new ideal for substitution, but what kind of ideal?This paper takes the dilemma of Pan Xiao as a motif, and traces the different solutions in the novels between 1980 and 1985.Comparing The Song of Youth with North Polar Lights, Chapter 1 shows that when time comes to the New Era, Lin Daojing could not find her instructor any longer. This in turn, is intimately related to the transformation of the historical view at the time, which announces the death of Mao's vision of utopia.Concerning mainly the so called the Industrial Theme, Chapter 2 argues that in the New Era, the working class with socialist consciousness lost its position as the positive protagonist, the managerial status instead, become to be viewed as the representative of Reform, with the popular believe that they can contribute both to the improvement of production and the dignity of working class as a whole. The vision of the regime of technology over the human beings however, makes the modernization solution in the city incredible in the end.Chapter 3 focuses on the Military Theme. On the one hand, Mao's way of mobilization dose not work in the New Era, on the other hand, people need some explanation for the sacrifice of individual to the country to make it legitimate. Finally, Rural China as symbol is taken to be the resource.Chapter 4, however, checks the changing meaning of Rural China, with novel Life as a center. In Mao's time, Rural China has been taken as a site where a socialist way without mass industrialization can accomplish, and the peasant as revolutionary force with great class consciousness. In the New Era, however, Rural China becomes the symbol of poverty and feudalism, which has nothing to do with the modernization plan.As modernization as a solution being in doubt, Chapter 5 examines the creation of Zhang Wei. In his novel, some lonely individuals become appear, which signal the death of a positive protagonist with close connection to some great ideal.When it comes to the year of 1985, some new kind of individual becomes appear in mass, who laugh at ideal and embrace vulgarity. To be vulgar, is certainly quite different from Pan Xiao who trapped in her dilemma.