Relationship Between Literature And Politics

The relationship between literature and politics cannot be neglected for the Chinese society in the 20 th century, when western modernization was stuffed into the Chinese society. Revolution became the leading method to resolve conflicts in the Chinese society. From the Revolution of 1911 to the War of Resistance against Japan and then to the War of Liberation, revolution turned into one of the major characteristics of the Chinese society, which determined its own development in every respect including literature. Literature, in the process of participation into social revolution, demonstrated tremendous social values; however concealed its own independence of art in the meantime. In the 20 th century, it remained a critical question for the Chinese society to handle the relationship between literature and politics for localization of Marxism in China. Different answers for this question revealed different interpretations for modernization of China, which is still of great significance for contemporary China.The Tration of Lu Xun, a specific outcome of the Chinese literature in the 20 th century, indicated the characteristics of the Chinese literature at that time, and hence boasted great social and time significances, which was why the Chinese Communist Party took advantage of Marxist Theory to officialize the Thought of Lu Xun. In the process of officialization of the Thought of Lu Xun, three schools represented by Zhou Yang, Feng Xuefeng, and Hu Feng, interpreted the Thought of Lu Xun from different aspects, reflecting not only the divergences among official discourses but also complicated motion trails between literature and politics. The present paper focuses on the officialized construction of the Tradition of Lu Xun, reveals the communication between Feng Xuefeng and Lu Xun, probes into the strategies and methods adopted by Feng Xuefeng while balancing the relationship between Lu Xun and CCP, and embodies the attitudes of Feng Xuefeng for the relationship between literature and politics as well as the consequences caused by the attitudes.In the process of officialized interpretation of the Tradition of Lu Xun, Feng Xuefeng endeavored to balance the relationship between literature and politics, that is to say, to stress the relationship of mutual development on the basis of independence of both literature and politics. Guided by the aforesaid strategy, Feng Xuefeng did an excellent job in the period of the League of Leftist Writers in dealing with the relationship between the League and Lu Xun, acknowledged by both Lu Xun and CCP. As the revolution in China deepened and the location of Marxism in China became mature with each passing day, the strategy adopted by Feng Xuefeng to balance the relationship between literature and politics deviated from the mainstream discourse of politics. In particular, after the Speech on Yan’an Forum on Literature and Art was delivered, the deviation trend became more obvious. After the founding of the People’s Republic of China, Feng Xuefeng strived to return to the mainstream discourse of politics, but still either intentionally or unintentionally revealed his reflection on the independent value of literature due to his status as a poet. As for the whole life of Feng Xuefeng, it was because of literature and politics that he got into trouble; and it was also because of literature and politics that he got promoted. The officialized construction of the Though of Lu Xun conducted by Feng Xuefeng was just a specific case for the relationship between literature and politics, but the distinctive time features it demonstrated deserved our exploration and consideration.