The New Literature's Trailblazer

As a trailblazer of New Literature,Liu Bannong,who has been a writer,linguist,educator,essayist,warrior,poet and scholar in his short lifetime,has been a representative of the New Culture Movement from the late Qing Dynasty to the early Republic of China and to the May 4th Movement.In his nearly 30 years of writing career,the themes of the majority of his works and translations are focused on criticizing the social ills of the times,enlightening the people in the darkness,being creative and pioneering,examining the national character,advocating humanitarianism and things like that,which shed light on the trajectory of Liu Bannong's literary creation and the process of his ideological evolution.Over the whole period of May 4th movement,Liu Bannong not only effectively integrated into theory of evolution,but also carried on the spirit and passion of the May 4th Movement.Although his seclusion in this period invited question and criticism from relevant people in history,it can be found from the perspective of historical context and ideological incentives that the authoritative all-covered style of understanding obscures the existence of historical differences and the resonance with the extension line of the May 4th spirit.Or the historical dislocation and distance,in its original sense,can better outline the thinking characters,ideological problems and compound issues in reflection of Liu Bannong,as a trailblazer of new literature.When the misinterpreation of the times has returned from divergence and deviation to rationality,and when the dawn of a new academic approach is shed on the long-overlooked data,it will surely make the value of Liu Bannong,a New Literature explorer,come to the surface of history again to rediscover historical details,the journey of his ideological development and to conduct scientific research in a multiple reflective manner.This paper attempts to analyze Liu Bannong's multiple literary attainments in the history of modern Chinese literature,culture,education,academics,linguistics and archaeology by combing and exploring his relevant literature.On the premise of returning to the historical scene at that time,this paper tries to approach and enter his literary world out of understanding and sympathy,and observe and examine his overall literary achievements from a macro viewpoint.Considering the circumstances,experience,aspiration and practice at that time,this paper aims to make an in-depth exploration of Liu Bannong based on the theory of works and writers,in the hope of dispersing clouds and clearing obstacles,thus analyzing Liu Bannong's literary thoughts,mentality of creation,artistic concepts,etc.In this way,we can ascertain the diversity and richness of Liu Bannong,a New Literature adventurer.In this paper,the part of introduction tries to make a historical and macro description of the process and the reason for topic seclection,content of research and approach of research.With this in mind,this study combs and summarizes the research status at home and abroad since the 1930 s,thus determines and explains the uniqueness and significance of Liu Bannong,a New Literature trailblazer.From the historical perspective of the May 4th New Culture movement,the first chapter mainly discusses the transformation of Liu Bannong,from a gifted man of Shanghai-based“School of Mandarin Duck and Butterfly” at the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China to a man of letters and New Literature pioneer.Specifically,through the analysis of Liu Bannong's works and translations,this study aims to explore and interprets his entanglement and distance with “School of Mandarin Duck and Butterfly”,investigate how he bettered the concept of the modern popular novel,explain how his popular literary consciousness were generated and what he achieved in folk literature,and interpret the historical motivation,construction and generation of his works Letter of two-man Shuanghuang.The second chapter is focused on Liu Bannong's pioneering spirit in new poetry.This part touches upon Liu Bannong's attempt to create new poetry and its aesthetic characteristics of enlightenment by introducing the birth,argumentation and conception related to new poetry in the May 4th period.His peom anthology Yang Bian and Wa Fu,his misread prose poetry,the controversial words "she" and "it" and so on,not only entail and manifest the true meaning of the May 4th enlightenment,but also embody the openness and modernity of the May 4th.The third chapter mainly analyzes Liu Bannong's prose creation and related theories,and examines the evolution of Liu Bannong's thoughts in this period.His creation reached the peak from joining the group of New Youth to the periond of Yusi.However,when Liu Bannong got his doctorate in French literature and returned to China,he gradually entered the seclusion stage.The related essays in the magazine of Analects seemingly announce that Liu Bannong,a fighter and writer in the May 4th period,was behind the times,but that was not the case according to the relevant reasons and facts.The fourth chapter chiefly discusses Liu Bannong's translation of foreign novels.His translated books are the inheritance and development as to the imagination of the modern nation and people from the standpoint of the May 4th Enlightenment.His translations have the rich meanings of enlightening people in the darkness,integrating China and foreign countries,imparting fresh knowledge,concerning the living conditions of the people at the bottom of the society and criticizing the national character.They are conducive to having a comprehensive and profound dialogue and thought with the social aspects,moral and ethical values,new women and other issues in the May 4th times.The fifth chapter mainly centers on the objective interpretation and evaluation of Liu Bannong's lifetime literary achievements,trying to restore and explain some relevant details in history.In the second half of Liu Bannong's life,his patriotic "warrior spirit" never diminished,his unswerving pursuit of "truth" and "integrity" ran through all his spiritual ideals and artistic exploration.Also,his multi-disciplinary academic achievements and his commitment to education are a reflection of his progress with the times.His literary theory and posthumous comment can provide a new perspective and interpretation for a comprehensive understanding of the May 4th movement,and also have certain enlightening significance.In the conclusion part,this paper points out that the exploration and study of Liu Bannong the writer and his work is more about interpretating and reflecting Liu Bannong by putting him back to the historical scene of the May 4th movement.