| This dissertation takes the 1980 s as its social and historical context,the literary debates about “modernism” as its fields of culture and thought,the confrontation between realism and modernism as its major issues to be discussed,and the critical articles of different ideas published during the debates as the targets of textual analysis.In so doing,efforts are made to restore as much as possible the historical background of the literary debates so that the dissertation may provide a systematic survey of the issues related to the debates about modernism and realism.Hopefully,it may present the complicated historic process at a time when conflicts occurred,the new replaced the old,paradigms shifted,and thoughts underwent radical transformations,and may display the historical experience and modern significance in the new period when ideas of literature and art were undergoing transition and transformation.To make a complete and substantial analysis of the issues about realism vs.modernism in the1980s' debates caused by the reemergence of “modernism,” the dissertation first makes an exploration of the context in relation to the culture and the thought when the debates occurred,and provides a diachronic review of the debates about realism vs.modernism.Such an approach would certainly make a profile of the sociological and historical background.And then key issues are studied from five angles: philosophical foundation,nature of literature and art,writing process,forms of presentation,and judgment of values.Finally based on an exhaustive exploration of the above five aspects,a conclusion is made: Realism and modernism belong to two different aesthetic systems;in the history of literary thought,they emerged on the stage at different times and developed in different sequences;and additionally,in terms of the evolution of literature and art,modernism is a product developed from and transcended over realism.But one thing should not be neglected that as far as writing practice is concerned,the two genres have nothing to do with the so called high and low or good and bad.In fact they are siblings who can nourish each other even if they pose to each other as rivals,because in writing practice what comes first is the search for a proper way that can make proper expressions possible,so that the product created by a writer can be elevated to a height free of fetters.Undoubtedly such a proper way of expression is an idealistic objective being pursued by any genres,realism ormodernism.The 1980 s is an era of transformation when all sorts of ideas emerged to rival each other.In such a transformative period,old structures began to be hammered away at its foundation,giving way to new ones.Tradition and modernity,nation and world,conservatism and innovation,individualism and collectivism,all these concepts and relations would be examined and scrutinized.The year 1978 is especially significant in that a monumental proclamation was made at the Third Plenary Section of the Eleventh Congress of the CCCP: Political slogans of class struggles were no longer the Party's guarding line and the focus of social development was shifted from political struggle to economic construction,and thus internal disturbances were brought to an end.The historic decision,on the other hand,created a relatively free atmosphere for the cultural and intellectual spheres.So under the combined force of a variety of factors,debates became the major approach adopted by intellectuals of various fields to raise and tackle issues.In the field of art and literature,accompanied with reform and opening-up to the world were numerous translations of modernistic works.Historically,realism dominated Chinese literature and art for a long period of time because modernism had long been despised as bourgeoisie,an art form to be suppressed and criticized.But now modernism and its relation with realism became an issue to be reexamined.A debate was unavoidable,especially in the 1980 s when the relations between realism and modernism became the first and foremost topic among the intellectuals.The debate about “modernism” started as early as the second half of 1978,when some scholars and translators of the Institute of Foreign Literature of the Chinese Social Science Academy began to discuss,tentatively,the role of modernism in China.Their discussion brought about an article entitled “A Few Issues about How to Evaluate Modern Bourgeois Literature,” authored by Liu Mingjiu,published in Foreign Literature Studies(first issue of 1979),the journal of the Institute of Foreign Literature of the CSSA.A column was followed from the fourth issue of 1980 to the first issue of 1982 of “Discussion of Western Modernism and Literature” and 32 articles were published on the topic.As the summery,writer Xu Chi published his“Modernization and Modernism,” a controversial article that brought their discussion to a climax,while Gao Xingjian contributed to another heated discussion with his book A Preliminary Research into Modern Writing Skills.After its publication,the book wasread and discussed by writers such as Feng Jicai,Li Tuo,and Liu Xinwu.Published in Shanghai Literature(the eighth issue of 1982),their correspondences and articles even activated other discussions related to modernism.One more climax arrived when the advent of the Misty Poetry(menglong shi)was heralded by three critical articles as “the Rise” of a new genre.Xie Mian's “In Face of the New Rise,” Sun Shaozhen's “The Rise of New Aesthetic Principles,” and Xu Jingya's “The Rise of a Group of Poets: On the Modernistic Tendency of the Chinese Poetry” in particular triggered unprecedented debates among the literary circles.After 1984 these squabbles ebbed to a standstill,but they resurfaced in 1988 when Huang Zhiping's “Fake ‘Modernism and Its Criticism'”was published in the second issue of Beijing Literature.Now their focus turned to what was true or false about “modernism.”For the purpose of a systematic survey of “modernism” in the 1980 s and the related debates about the issues of modernism and realism,the dissertation takes the issues about the confrontation between modernism and realism as its target and tries to make an in-depth exploration about the essence of these issues from five dimensions:Philosophical foundation,the nature of literature and art,writing process,the composition of a work,and the values of judgment.In this dissertation the issues about realism and modernism are studied from the perspective of academic history.In this process the debates about realism and modernism in both Chinese and foreign literary arenas are examined,the context of culture and thought related to the debates about“modernism” are reviewed,and the key viewpoints and their development described.As we know,the debates under discussion are not a special or unique phenomenon in China.In fact they are an old topic in the history of world literature and art.Therefore an examination of the issues from an international perspective can provide an important coordinate to the debates in China.Chapter 3 starts with the discussion of“materialism vs.idealism,” an attempt to approach the research target from the foundation of literature and art.In fact materialism and idealism constituted one of the key issues in the 1980s' debates.The philosophical foundation of modernism is modern idealism in the West,while realism is built upon materialism and its theory of reflection.Unfortunately,thanks to the revolutionary tradition,“materialism” and“idealism” were not treated equally as two separate thinking modes of objective existence.On the contrary,“materialism” was considered true while “idealism” false.Under the influence of such presupposed prejudice,realism,with “materialism” as itsphilosophical foundation,was thought to be naturally true,but rooted in “idealism,”modernism was considered false.So a confrontation between realism and modernism occurred inevitably.Chapter 4 is the continuation of Chapter 3,in which the exploration of the issues about modernism and realism are shifted from their philosophical foundation to the nature of literature and art.In general,realism is of the opinion that writings of literature and art are a representation of the objective world,while modernism thinks that these writings are representations of the subjective world.The different ideas about literature and art are the major causes of the confrontation between realism and idealism.As its title “Rationalism and Irrationalism” indicates,Chapter 5 moves from the nature of literature and art to the writings of literature and art when the research target of particular texts is examined.Basically as far as writing psychology is concerned,realism resorts to rationalism as its guidance,but as a mode of thinking rationalism is most despised and challenged by modernism.For this reason,differences in writing psychologies constituted another cause for the confrontation between realism and modernism.In Chapter 6 issues about modernism and realism are studied from the morphology of literature and art,or,to be more exact,studied from the two levels: form and content.Realism is more interested in what content is presented or what perception is conveyed,while modernism turns to experiments with language and forms.This splitting in their pursuits is one of the watersheds that separate modernism and realism.Finally,if philosophical foundation,ideas of literature and art,writing psychology,and forms of presentation are considered internal factors of literary and artistic writing,then values of literature and art are external factors to evaluate a piece of work.Starting from this perspective,the last chapter attempts to look at the differences and similarities between modernism and realism.Realistic writing stresses the search of meaning and the presentation of truth,while modernism takes such efforts as an illusion and self-deception,because modernists think that the world per se is absurd and meaning is illusive.For modernism,a significant value of literature and art is fulfilled if a piece of work can face and unveil the world's absurdity,the nothingness of meaning,the darkness of human nature,and the dismal of human life.In a certain sense,modernism presents “meaning” by way of“meaninglessness.” Such a disparity or conflict in understanding and presenting the values of literature and art gives rise to another confrontation between modernism and realism.The issues in the 1980s' debates about modernism and realism might have passed for critical topics confined to a certain period in history.But in fact they are multi-faceted and the relations between them are more complicated than they seem to be.In general three arguments were heard during the debates.Some debaters thought that modernism is more advanced than realism and would in the end replace realism.Some thought realism as a way of writing is eternal because it is deeply rooted in a writing tradition that has been long accepted.Some thought that there is no essential confrontation between modernism and realism and the two genres are even likely to merge into a fusion,as evidenced by the pre-modified realisms,such as new realism and magic realism.After much investigation of the three arguments,some findings come into view.The 1980 s is a drastically transformative period since the dawn of reform and opening when the previously dominated ideology was undermined and the long pressed and neglected discourse became vitalized.For instance,literature and politics were drifting apart,and critical and literary writings characterized with modernistic and vanguard tendencies began to emerge.But nevertheless it should be noted that in this transformative process,thanks to the maintenance of and fight over discursive power,the debates and contentions that should have been confined to academic circles often evolved to more radical and more one-sided dual oppositions.This phenomenon is one of the most distinct features of discourse in the 1980s' literary criticism.Another viewpoint unfolds itself when the issues about “modernism” are investigated under the historical framework of world literature and intellectual thought.According to such a stand,the best way of writing is neither a simple fusion,nor a simple confrontation.This viewpoint embraces a principle of pluralism and freedom and declares that the best way of literary writing is neither realism nor modernism,or is both realism and modernism,or their combination.The problem under discussion should not be directed to “isms,” but rather it should be directed to the way of writing,or its validity in actual expression and creative freedom.If it proves valid,it is the best way of writing.If it leads the writer to the unobstructed writing,it is the best way of writing.If it brings about “precision” and “arrival,” it is the best way of writing.Of course,realism is often employed in literature and art and has produced numerous classics in history.On the other hand,it can not be denied that ever since its advent,modernism has provided unprecedented innovations for literature and art.With the above inclusive viewpoint,the author travels back and forth between present andhistory,modernity and tradition,theory and practice,and many disciplines in the hope that she might clarify the complicated and even entangled relations between realism and modernism.And it should be admitted that more wisdom and thought are needed to make a fair,rational,just conclusion for the two writing approaches,because they are so vigorous and so attractive even today.It is the hope of the author that,in dealing with the transformation of artistic ideas in the new period,her efforts may unveil for the present certain historical experience and significance. |
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