Philip Larkin's "non-hero Thinking

Philip Larkin is one of the British pre-eminent poets, novelists, jazz critics and modern librarians in the twentieth century. Through studying Larkin's manuscripts, novels, celebrated poems and some neglected good ones, classical writings on poetry, social life and contemporary writers'literary critical comments on Larkin and his works, this dissertation explores Larkin's view of"non -hero"to interpret and analyze Larkin's poetics and modern values of his works in the process of cultural globalization .Larkin is neither an anti-hero poet nor a minor poet who for purely local and temporary reasons has acquired a large reputation. He is actually a strong"non-hero"poet. Born pre-war or post-war and growing up after World War II, the non-heroes in Larkin's works are the"little men"representing the majority of community of responsibility and honesty, never putting their blind faith in the belief of religion and the policy of government or any power. As a new type of literary character depicted by Larkin,"non-hero", who is neither the hero as divinity, prophet or king, nor the anti-hero as numb, quixotic and desperate slob or outsider with equivocal and vague fate, has decomposed the romantic concept of"hero"and dismantled the ideas of buoyant heroism. It shows the real life and feeling of postwar people. The"non-hero", the essence of Larkin's poetics, stands for"the whole man"of real daily life and shows a clear ideology of common men.Larkin's plain language, humble and daily animal symbolism and the description of ordinary women's inner world are the making of the bright light of Larkin's"small beauty", which reflects the sublimity and divinity of daily life and the literary concern on the dignity and life value of man. The view of Larkin's"non- hero"has promoted the development and transformation of twentieth-century British poetry. It mirrors the spiritual life development of post-war young generation who grew up in the 1950s and 60s. Moreover, it conveys the human concerns of contemporary humanism, complies with the laws of morality and aesthetic judgement, displays the vigorous life of the common man, and records the history of human civilization. Finally, Larkin's view of"non-hero"reflects the decline of grand narratives and concerns on ordinary men and their daily lives in post-modern culture.