A Study On The Literary Theory Study Class Of Renmin University

This dissertation studies The Literary Theory Study Class,which was advocated by Zhou Yang in the 1950s and 1960s and held by Renmin University of China and the literary study institute of the Philosophy and the social Sciences Branch,Chinese Academy of Sciences(the current name is Chinese Academy of Social Sciences).This class not only gave much influence on the theory of literature and art and the literary and art criticism,but also fostered many leading talents in these fields of the New Period.This phenomenon can' t be ignored when we study the Contemporary Literary History,especially the construction of Marxism literary theory in the history of "Seventeen-Year Literature”.The Literary Theory Study Class of Renmin University was organized by the Central Propaganda Department and the Ministry of Education under the advocacy and direct guidance of Zhou Yang(the then Deputy Minister of the Central Propaganda Department).The aim was to foster literary theory cadres and create literary theory.At the time,Zhou Yang was in charge of two“projects".One was to organize academic forces throughout the country to write series of liberal arts textbooks for colleges and universities(mainly humanities);the other was to "grasp talents" and start The Literary Theory Study Class of Renmin University.At that time,more than a decade after the founding of New China,through series of political movements,the intra-Party line struggle had become increasingly fierce,but the enthusiasm for exploring the socialist road from top to bottom across the country was bleak.At the time,Zhou Yang and some leaders who were in charge of ideology must not only obey the needs of the actual struggle,but also hoped to get rid of the shackles of Soviet dogmatism and build localized Marxist literary theories.They held The Literary Theory Study Class and it was this "ambition" performance.The Literary Theory Study Class was held in that very politicized age.It was the product of that era and was naturally constrained by the actual political needs.For example,the "Ma Wenbing”,a writing team mainly composed of The Literary Theory Study Class trainees.At that time,it was the "pencil " that served the "great criticism" and had great influence.The Literary Theory Study Class of Renmin University insisted on running schools in this conflict between reality and ideals.At that time,the literary theory circle and even the humanities and social sciences community also had this kind of similar "conflict".There were many arguments and changes,and they all projected to The Literary Theory Study Class of Renmin University.To a certain extent,it can be said that The Literary Theory Study Class of Renmin University was a mirror of the contemporary Chinese literary theory circle.The Literary Theory Study Class tried to explore a more formal literary education system and foster talents for literary criticism and research.It even had to construct localized Marxist literary theories in accordance with Zhou Yang' s vision.The curriculum and the method of training of The Literary Theory Study Class was close to that of postgraduate education.And there were several "specialized groups”under the study of literature and art,similar to the research direction,including literary theory,classical literary theory,western literary theory,aesthetics,etc.Since the national graduate education was not yet mature,the number of postgraduates recruited and trained was very small.The experiments of specialized groups of Renmin University which focused on fostering had provided valuable experience,either intentionally or unintentionally.The academic resources of specialized groups of Renmin University was unique.And it can mobilize a group of top scholars in the national literature and art and the related disciplines at that time to teach.Including He Qifang,He Luo,Cai Yi,Zhu Guangqian,Miu Longshan,Qian Zhongshu,Zong Baihua,Tang Tao,Li Zehou,Wang Zhao wen,etc.The strong lineup of teachers can be said to have been unrivalled for decades.The curriculum design of specialized groups covers a wide range of topics,including ancient and modem Chinese and foreign literary theory,as well as various disciplines such as philosophy,aesthetics arts literary history and critical history.Especially Marxist literary theory,Chinese ancient literary theory and western literary theory,were important professional courses,and they all had relatively systematic arrangements.Through the course of lectures of many scholars,we can see how the mainstream ideology had constrained teaching and research,literary theory,even social science research how to found a balance between actual politics and scholarship.The Literary Theory Study Class of Renmin University had three sessions,and fostered about 111 students.In addition to attending classes,students were required to devote a lot of time to the actual political movements,and organized to write major criticism articles and textbooks,and so on.The teaching at that time can' t be influenced by the actual politics.The original goal of building Marxist literary theory had obviously hit a“discount”,but it had also tempered the trainees and improved the social impact of The Literary Theory Study Class.The Literary Theory Study Class of Renmin University had trained a group of Marxist literary theory talents.After graduation,their "professional counterparty ratio " was extremely high.Most of them had become teachers and experts in literary research and criticism.A considerable number of Chinese language departments in colleges and universities had the students of The Literary Theory Study Class.They had a great influence in the 1960s.After the“Cultural Revolution”was over~the students who graduated from The Literary Theory Study Class of Renmin University were in the middle age.They just displayed their talents.A considerable part of them became leaders of literary and art theories,Marxist literary theory,ancient Chinese literary theory,western literary theory,modern and contemporary literature,aesthetics,and other river basins.The Literary Theory Study Class of Renmin University had made valuable explorations in the construction of literature and art and higher professional education.Its gains and losses are precious and need to be summarized.However,so far,academic circles still pay little attention to the historical events of The Literary Theory Study Class of Renmin University.This article based on this topic hopes to collect and“rescue”relevant datas firstly,sort out the ins and outs of The Literary Theory Study Class of Renmin University,to provide a good foundation for future research on The Literary Theory Study Class of Renmin University.A study on The Literary Theory Study Class of Renmin University hopes to reach the goal of research in the following three aspects:Firstly,sorting out the historical events of The Literary Theory Study Class is in order to figure out the literary events that had generated a great influence that year.From this we can observe the status and trends of research and criticism of literary theory in the 1950s and 1960s,and enrich the understanding of the" 17 years" literary history.Secondly,by summarizing the historical experience of The Literary Theory Study Class,we will deepen our understanding of the complex process of the localization of Marxist literary theories,and deepen the understanding of Zhou Yang's“role" contradictions in the politicized era.Thirdly,through the historical investigation of The Literary Theory Study Class of Renmin University,we can sum up the experience of the gains and losses of the construction of Literature and Art disciplines and literary talents cultivation.Because academic circles have few research results on The Literary Theory Study Class of Renmin University,the research of The Literary Theory Study Class has just been in its infancy.So,the most important thing is to rescue and collect relevant datas.Before entering the writing of this article,a great deal of effort was devoted to finding,excavating,and collecting data,including searching from archives,as well as accessing and investigating the students of The Literary Theory Study Class.This article hopes to use the method of"historical narrative"as the main method,focusing on historical materials,in order to sort out and restore the history of The Literary Theory Study Class,making a brief commentary,and not doing too much theoretical elucidation in order to lay the foundation for further research.The first chapter combs the whole story of The Literary Theory Study Class,and restores the whole picture of The Literary Theory Study Class.First of all,it explores the produced times background of The Literary Theory Study Class,as well as the relationship between the establishment of The Literary Theory Study Class and the political movements of that time.The recalling the history of Peking University and Beij ing Normal University's“Literary Theory Class”is to see where it may provide reference for the upcoming of The Literary Theory Study Class of Renmin University.This chapter also sorts out the historical datas of The Literary Theory Study Class of Renmin University,tries to understand the basic conditions of The Literary Theory Study Class,including the preparations for the start-up,institution setting,teachers recruitment,students enrollment,schooling,and difficult campus life,and so on.The second chapter argues about the relationship between Zhou Yang and The Literary Theory Study Class,and his intention of holding The Literary Theory Study Class,his vision for cultivating Marxist literary and theoretical talents,and how he was restrained by the political movement at the time,falling in to contradiction between ideals and reality,and so on.Chapter three argues about the relationship between He Qifang and The Literary Theory Study Class.Recalling the circumstances in which He Qifang and He Luo and others participated in the preparation for The Literary Theory Study Class,the courses he taught,and the influence of He Qifang' s guiding ideology on the theoretical construction and personnel training of The Literary Theory Study Class.From this we can also see the other side of scholars who were under political repression.In the Chapter four,we will sort out the curriculum of The Literary Theory Study Class.Because of the three—year course involved,and many changes and adjustments during the period,this chapter uses the method of classification to describe the related situations of public courses,professional courses and course examinations.Chapter five emphasizes on the courses taught by the scholars who were masters in this field,including Tang Tao's "writing of literary and art cticits",Qian Zhongshu' s“History of Chinese literature Critics",Cai Yi' s“Conspectus of Literature",Li Zehou' s "Classification of Art",Miao Langshan' s "History of Western Literary Critics",Zong Baihua's“Chinese Classical Aesthetics”.This chapter also argues about the influence of these courses to the students and abut the teaching of this class' intention of holding The Literary Theory Study Class,its vision for fostering Marxist literary and theoretical talents,and how it was restrained by the political movement at the time,falling in to contradiction between ideals and reality,and so on.In order to observe and study the dilemma these scholars faced between facing up to the practical politics and insisting on academic mission.Chapter six describes the situation of "Ma Wenbing".Including the composition of the great criticism writing team,how to write“propositional composition”,what is“collective writing”,and so on.We also use a section to describe the graduation thesis writing of the students.Chapter seven summarizes the academic influence and theoretical contributions of The Literary Theory Study Class'students.After their graduation,they were distributed in universities and cultural research institutes throughout the country,and the " professional counterparty rate" was very high.After the beginning of the new period,they really played an academic role,and became a leader in different fields such as literary theory,to rebuild various disciplines.Among them,He Xilai,Li Yanzhu and Miao Junjie are representative scholars.We can take them as cases to comment on their academic pathways,and analyze the relationship between their academic pathways and The Literary Theory Study Class of that year,then look back at the status of The Literary Theory Study Class in the history of contemporary Chinese literature and art theory and the lessons of history.