Liberalism And The Modern Character Of New Literature

Modern Chinese society has witnessed a big upheaval, the most radical one for more than five thousand years, and it is such a big upheaval that has brought about the colorful Chinese culture blended and colliding with the western culture. Under such a condition, the democratic political system, the concepts of freedom and equality, and the moral value system stemming from the western liberalism constantly intrude into the traditional Chinese culture, bringing about the new cultural paradigm and perspectives, resulting in the new cultural movement peculiar to the period of the modern Chinese social transition and literature change, and this has pushed the revolution of the anti-feudal thoughts and literature to an unprecedented height. At the same time, such new culture paradigms and visions have a profound effect on the thought & value systems, modern literature criticism theories and creative writing practice of modern Chinese writers, bring about a set of literature conceptions, patterns, value and inspirations characteristic of modern culture and thus promote the establishment of modern literature criticism ideology and theories, cause the appearance and evolution of the new Chinese literature. Therefore, the trends of liberalism has ever got a say in the process of modern Chinese saving itself from extinction and seeking for enlightenment, which has performed an important function in promoting the Chinese social, political and literature transformation from old to modern. In conclusion, without the influence of the trends of liberalism on Chinese society and without an infiltration effect of the western liberalism on Chen Du-xiu, Li Da-zhao, Hu shi, Cai Yuan-pei, Lu Xun and Zhou Zuo-ren etc., there would be no humanistic spirits present in Chinese literature, such as People-orientedness, attending to person's value, respecting the human rights, pursuing human freedom, equality, and liberation etc., and also the literature of the CCPC would be lacking of literary imagination and expression. For this, the relationship between liberalism and modern Chinese literature has always been the focus of the literary world.Starting from the construction of the May 4th new culture--- the initiation of modern Chinese thoughts and culture, the dissertation depicts and expounds on the components of liberalism blended into the Chinese literature history round about the May 4th Movement (e.g. democracy, freedom, equality and liberation of individuality, etc). Meanwhile, the dissertation researches on some literature phenomena and facts centering around liberalism such as the front of literature, literature criticism and creation etc. and examines comprehensively and deeply into the relationship between the trend of liberalism thoughts and modern Chinese literature.The argumentation procedure is composed of the following four stages:(1) Expose the motivation and goal for the spreading of the liberalism trends and analyze the subjective and objective factors for Chinese writers'identification and acceptance of liberal thoughts in the period of social transformation by the analysis of the appeals of external environment change to literature. (2) Demonstrate the channels of liberalism spreading and its influence in China by the examination of the oversea students' learning abroad and their managing newspapers, magazines, and book translation, etc. (3) investigate into the mastery and expression of the liberalism value ideology by the enlightenment thinkers represented by Chen Du-xiu, Hu Shi, Lu Xun, and Zhou Zuo-ren, etc., analyze the facilitative effect of the liberalism value in innovating Chinese literature criticism innovation and transforming Chinese literature, and explore the effects of the liberalism trends on Chinese literary modernization. (4) research on the new value system, theoretical resources and literature history details supplied by the liberalism trends, the new dimensions of explanation and development opened by the liberalism tends, examine the relationship between liberal value ideology and the formation of the modernity the new literature, both of which will be based on the description of the awakening of awareness of writing subject in new literature and the involvement and expression of individual liberation, women's liberation, family liberation, freedom of marriage, critique of nationality, and imagination of the new country.Based on combing through the trends of liberalism, writers of modern Chinese literature, masterpieces, different schools of literature and their social influences, etc., the dissertation sums up the gain and loss of liberalism in the formation of modernity of the new literature to grasp the historic significance of the modem Chinese literature and supply some experiences both in theory and creation for the advancement of Chinese contemporary literature.