Research On Anti-intellectual Narrative In Chinese Modern And Contemporary Novels

Once anti-intellectualism, with the core demand of doubt and even negation of the value of knowledge and intellectuals, intervenes the Chinese modern and contemporary novels, it is generated the’anti-intellectual’ discourse representation system within the intellectual’s narrative tradition. However, this narrative tradition is often mistaken for self-criticism discourse, which stands on intellectuals’own contemplation and literary reflection since May Fourth Enlightenment movement. Anti-intellectualism in social thought used to bring serious obstacle to China’s modernization process, and its flooding also caused fatal mamage to Chinese modern intelectual group. Neverthless, Anti-intellectualism in social thought is supplemented with anti-intellectual narrative tradition, causing and affecting each other. Therefore, this paper is intended to have a discussion of them, hoping to clarify the difference between the two so as to have a clearer understanding of anti-intellectual narrative tradition in Chinese modern and contemporary literature.Apart from the preface and epilogue, the main part of this paper consists of five chapters. The first chapter focuses on clearance of the narrative tradition of the intellectuals in the Chinese literature over the past century. And within this tradition, there is an analysis of difference between intellectual’s discourse of self-critical type and anti-intellectual discourse. The second chapter reinterpretes a series of texts to have an deeper investigation on the changes of the anti-intellectualism narrative tradition, with the theme of’revolution’in the long20th century. The third chapter discusses the transmutation of narrative tradition of anti-intellectualism since1908with the theme of’revolution’is replaced by’reform’for nearly three decades. The last chapter, on the basis of’representation’of those texts and from the point of view of narrative ethics, dissects the changes of narrative ethics in novels by anti-intellectuals. The preface depicts the origine, purpose, structure and method of this paper, while the conclusion is a concise statement of the outcome and writing experience.As to research method, learning from a scholar. Tang Xiaobing’s’reinterpretion’ concept, this paper attempts to outline the anti-intellectual narrative tradition in Chinese modern and comtemporary literature on the basis of specific texts from different points of views such as history ideas and cultural studies. With the use of the theory of narrative ethcs, it also examines the anti-intellectual stance and its value orientation.