On The Disability Writing In Contemporary Chinese Literature

Disability is one of the special existences of the human beings.As a common social phenomenon,disability is one of the special aspects that literature can never keep itself away from.In the contemporary Chinese literature,there are many works that take disability as subject matter and contain disabled characters.That is all because the disabled are in connection not only with such issue as contemporary politics,economy and culture but also with the development of the spiritual civilization in China.The writings of the disabled concern not only with their physical disability and psychic trauma but also with the living environment and social morality around them.This dissertation applies the perspectives of image theory,personality trait theory,trauma theory and ethical literary criticism to the study of the writings of the disabled,analyzes the literary characters,narrative patterns,rhetorical carriers,value orientations and literary themes of relative works with the intention of tracing the implied meanings of the writings of the disabled and exposing the importance of the writings of the disabled in the development of the contemporary Chinese literature.This dissertation is divided into five chapters with the introduction on the origin of the issue,the related research at home and abroad,and the aim,significance and the research ideas and methods.Chapter one focuses on the characters of the writings of the disabled.Disability is a special body phenomenon,referring to the phycological or physical abnormality of the human beings.The differences between the disabled and the abled classify the disabled as "the people with alien bodies".The disabled literary characters of the contemporary Chinese literature are not only with alien bodies but also with the individuality·of the people in certain age,certain area and with certain social status.They are portrayed to embody the features of the time and to express the attitude of the author towards different social phenonium.In this chapter,literary characters are divided into three kinds as the perseverant heroes,the enlightened heroes and the symbolical heroes.By analyzing the characters of the writings of the disabled,this dissertation tries to reveal how the perseverant heroes play the function of demonstration,criticism and reconsideration,how the enlightened heroes expose the contradiction between the disabled and their living environment and trace the origin of the trauma brought about by the political movements,and how the symbolical heroes relate to certain social problems.Chapter two focuses on the rhetorical devices of the writings of the disabled.Disability is a special living state of the human beings,a phenomenon of social reality and a means to help people to know the human world,to understand the human society and to anatomize human life.Disabled people are not only the objects of the writings of the disabled,but also the symbols upon which the writers imply what they hope to express.The mad,the blockheaded,the deaf,the blind and the cripple are the images upon which figures of speech are created.These characters can develop the plot and drive the readers into the symbolic system set by the writers and lead the readers from fabled plots to the associated world and from the general to the specific.In this chapter,by analyzing the image of the mad,we first deal with how the writers make the mad behaviors metaphorical for social problems in the period of "the Great Cultural Revolution",how the writers make mad remarks symbolize the madness of the time or the evil of the humanity,and how the writers make people ponder over the catastrophe caused by "the Revolution" Secondly,by analyzing the metaphorical meaning of the relative works,we discuss how the writers build up a profound metaphorical world of the disabled,expose the conflict between rural civilization and urban civilization and show the contradiction between traditional culture and modern culture;Thirdly,by interpreting the metaphorical meaning of the disabled,we discuss how the writers expose the good and evil of human nature,the variation of human nature and the moral problems of the society.Chapter Three focuses on the narrative strategies of the writings of the disabled.In the narrative fictions,the surface meaning of the narration often seems apart from the reality.The angles,routes,languages and methods of narration are optional.Different narrative strategies result in different narrative effects.The features of the narration of the disabled in the contemporary Chinese literature lie in the interaction between the made-up space and the social space,in the double-oriented structure and in the multi-angled observation.In this chapter,we first discuss how the writings of the disabled build their spaces for interaction,connect the literary space with the social space,and bring about the interactions between the made-up spaces and the social spaces,thus to create a fantastic narrative atmosphere and personally involved feelings of the readers.We also discuss how the writers build a bridge between absurdity and reality to expose the social reality behind the absurd plots.Secondly,we discuss how the writings of the disabled promote the development of the plots,expose the repression of the social rules upon the desires of human bodies,show the variation of human nature disclosed by the appearance of human bodies,reveal the relationship between body phenomena and identity construction by relying on the situation of the existence of human bodies and taking the dual routes of body narration and identity construction,thus making the readers see the "Disability of Man" through the existence of the disabled people.Thirdly,we discuss how the writings of the disabled make a unusual narration space,build a bridge between past and present,and create a link between the fictional and the actual,by means of the multi-angled observation(the angles of "the Brainless I","the seemingly Brainless I" and"the Omniscient I"),multiple narration(the narrator tells only what he has experienced;the narrator makes no subjective comments;the narrator gives omniscient narrations),thus to turn the writers' personal feelings of the events into literary words and to make the problems of the able-bodied known to the readers.Chapter Four focuses on the value orientation of the writings of the disabled.As a sort of mental activity,literature often embodies human values.The activity of both the writers and the readers is affected by literary values.The value orientation of literary works not only embodies the outlook on life,the sense of worth,the view of creation and the writing ability of the authors,but also reflects the authors' understanding of the world,mastering of what to write about and depicting of thoughts and feelings.In this chapter,by summarizing the narrative pattern of "two points + three lines",we start from the points of "suffering" and"resistance" and go along the three lines of "disregarding the prejudice and seeking for equality of love","facing discrimination and defending dignity" and "resisting suffering and realizing the life value" to discuss the value orientation of "the resistance against suffering and the increase in life value" of the writings of the disabled in the value system of contemporary literature which prioritizes the value of the individuals.Chapter Five focuses on the writings of the disabled by disabled writers,which plays an important role the contemporary Chinese literature.Apart from taking disability as metaphorical and symbolical symbols,disabled writers also take disability as the means for plotting,characterization,conflicting and thought presentation.In this chapter,we first discuss the "encouraging works" by disabled writers and reveal how disabled writers share their disabled life experience with the readers by describing great strength to overcome difficulties and to live a colourful life.Secondly,we discuss the "shouting works" by disabled writers and show how disabled writers depict the positive energy of the disabled and shout for justice and equal rights for the disabled.Thirdly,we discuss the "pondering works" by disabled writers and comment on the unique narrative methods of disabled writers to make the readers ponder over the meaning of life and benefit for the pondering.Literature is the expression of human life as well as a mirror to reflect the social reality.In the long history of the development of the world,so long as there is man,there is disability and the disabled will be the ever-lasting topic for literary writings.Our research into the contemporary writings of the disabled is to reveal,by examining,analyzing,discussing and commenting,the authors' usages of the artistic devices to make the readers read between the lines,join in the discourse construction,and understand the implication of what they are reading.Our research into the contemporary writings of the disabled is also to render,by criticizing from sociological,ethical and aesthetical points of views,reference for the study of the contemporary Chinese writings and to make our contribution to the cultivation of the core values of socialism,to the elimination of discrimination,to the Advocation of fair and justice and to the construction of spiritual civilization.