Deconstruction And Reconstrction Of Filial Piety In Chinese Modern Novels

Chinese modern novels develop on the basis of the critique of the traditional culture.In order to realize the historical mission of cultural innovation and enlightenment of thinking,modern novels put emphasis on the critique of Chinese traditional ethnics by means of penetrating into the traditional culture.Traditional filial culture is an important part of ethnics,so modern novels starts from the critique of the traditional filial culture in the anti-traditional movement.The traditional filial culture criticized in modern novels has the specialty of autocracy and corruption.To criticize the autocracy and corruption in traditional filial culture is the right way,but filial duty in feudal society is a wide-spread and quite controversial proposition.What's more,Chinese feudal society has the political tradition of administering by means of filial duty,which displays obviously in the correlation of political standard and ethnical one,that is,the close correlation between loyalty and filial duty in concrete.This decides the complexities of filial duty,which has not only the filial cultural idea of in the family ethnics,but on the basis of which the thought of loyalty extends;which has not only the filial duty and kindness in conformity with the human nature,ethnics and humanitarianism,but the filial culture closely related to the feudalism and ethnics in strict hierarchy.This kind of complexities plays a decisive role in the multiple aesthetic expressions of the destruction and reconstruction of modern novels on the aspect of the filial culture.Culture influences the formation and development of the individual personality,which is in fact a kind of cultural personality.Filial culture is the core part of the traditional culture,and the major cultural element in the formation of the author's personality.Traditional cultural personality thus formed is to integrate the thought of filial into stable individual psychological structure and behaviour which become a kind of cultural personality collective unconsciousness.In this way traditional cultural personalty formed in the filial culture is the congenital cultural personality which is born in the traditional cultural environment.In this sense,almost all of Chinese modern novelists formed the personality closely oriented by filial.But the change of literature environment and the intellectual structure of the modern novelists influences the filial-oriented personality.Modern novels criticize and deconstruct the traditional filial culture under the cultural influence of western thought enlightenment and saving the nation.The widespread and depth of the criticism are closely related to the intellectual structure of the modern novelists.Modern novelists in the period of the years around 1919 span both the traditional period and the new period.They are enlightened in the traditional literature and thus have the deep-rooted traditional culture in the bottom of their heart.But they continue to seek and receive the new thoughts and ideas in the west and show the strong and consistent anti-traditional spirit.They have the duplicity in their relationship with the filial culture:inthought they are against the traditional filial culture,and even have the extreme attitude once to be in conformity with the enlightenment while in action they can't get out of the ethnical standard of the feudal filial duty.Modem novelists are against the traditional filial duty on the level of idea,but could not get out of the moral feelings because of the interference of many elements and thus formed the double personalties of contradiction of the filial duty and the moral feelings.Most of the novelists of the years of 1930s and 1940s grow up under the influence of the new cultural movement in 1919.They are enlightened in the new thoughts and influenced little by the old traditional culture.So they can not only criticize the traditional filial culture intellectually,but can get rid of the bondage of the filial culture and choose between filial and non-filial to form the rebellion personality in the consciousness of non-filial.The two filial-oriented personalities influence the creation of modern novels.The new cultural movement in 1919 in the critique of Confucius ethnics formed the basic tune of the critique of traditional culture,esp.the filial culture by modern novels.In some sense,the critique of the traditional filial culture is going through the whole modern literature by modern novels.The critique of the filial culture in different period is different.Modern novels in the first decade criticize the tradition filial culture by acquiring the personal liberation and marriage freedom as the breaking through point.The critique of the filial culture in this period is immature and not in full because of the contradictory personality of the moral feelings and the filial duties and the influence of society.Modem novels in the second decade are more advanced in the depth and the extensiveness than the first decade in the critique of the filial culture.Modem novels in this period deconstruct the filial culture in three aspects:first,deconstruct the sustenance and authority of filial,which is the material and spiritual basis of "home",feudal patriarchal system and mode of firstborn sustenance;second,modem novels criticize the autocracy and corruption of the filial culture by contrasting the corruption,despotism and the revolutionary protest of the part who ought to perform the filial in description.Modern novels show the awakening individuals in the national discourse who are liberated from"home" and devoted to the national liberation.From the rebellion of the ethnical filial to the political loyalty to the nation,it is the extension of the modern significance of filial culture.Still another point,modern novels destruct the shock of modern city on the traditional filial culture,which shows the alienation of modem city to the filial duties.Modern novels in the third decade do not negate simply in destructing the traditional filial culture,which contain the return of unfilial son and the compassion and forgiveness of the author's attitude toward the unfilial son,but describe vividly the complexities of the human nature of unfilial son.Modern novels strongly criticize the traditional filial culture and hold a positive view on the filial based on ethnical kindred.In the anti-traditional movement,the filial based on ethnical kindred is adumbrated by the corruption of the traditional culture.In fact,while modern novels destruct the traditional filial culture in extreme,the legality of the traditional filial culture in the 1940s is discovered.The change of the revolutionary situation and the duplicity of the traditional filial culture make modern novelists reconstruct the traditional filial culture.The reconstruction of the filial culture by modern novels contains two levels of meaning:one is to reconstruct the the filial based on ethnical kindred which were ever criticized and ignored strongly and represent the ideal filial of father's kindness and son's filial;the other is to extend the thought of loyalty and filial which are based on the filial culture to the appeal of protecting the home and country and liberating the mass in the national discourse.So far,modern novels reconstruct the traditional filial culture from the aspect of the ethnic and the politics.In fact,it is the positive way to carry forward the traditional filial and to transform and sublime the traditional filial to be in conformity with the modern time in significance.