A Regional Study Of Southwest Literature In One Hundred Years

The "spatial turn" in contemporary academic circles has developed a new field for literature research,and also won the right to speak for self-expression of certain regional literature,especially for the southwest region.As peripheral literature which has long been covered by the mainstream of "center--dge",southwest literature presents its own distinct regional personality under the light of space and post-modern vision.Taking southwest literature as the research object,this dissertation specifically explores the unique literary features and temperament generated in the specific mountainous environment,marginal historical memory and multi-ethnic cultural atmosphere in southwest China,analyzes its unique value and significance as a frontier literature that makes southwest literature step out of the long-narrated "other"identity,realizes the independence of subjectivity aesthetics,and at the same time,reflects the diversity and richness of the internal composition of Chinese literature.Regarding "southwest" literature as a literary object with independent regional characteristics is mainly based on the following understanding,which is also one of the key points of this dissertation:Southwest literature is a kind of "other" literature.Deeply rooted in the traditional discourse system of "Huaxia-barbarian","center-edge" binary opposition in China,situated in the border areas and inhabited by ethnic minorities,southwest China is a typical "land of barbarians" and "a land of foreign civilization".This identity recognition was traced back to Si Maqian's Historical Records-Biographies of Southwest Barbarians,and then it was strengthened and solidified in various historical periods,and it still exists in the social consciousness in the form of collective unconsciousness.Therefore,from the perspective of the orthodox literature center,southwest literature,which is full of "heterogeneity"narration,is certainly regarded as "the other".Southwest literature is a kind of "mountain literature".The shaping effect of regional environment on literature has long been recognized by people.Especially since modern times,scholars such as Liang Qichao,Wang Guowei,Liu Shipei,Wang Bijiang,Chen Qianfan and Jin Kemu have made in-depth studies on this issue.Different from the "plain characteristic of Chinese mainstream literature,the complex,changeable,adventurous and magnificent mountain geological appearance of the southwest plateau and the mountain agricultural production mode attached to it have cultivated the mountain cultural form different from the plain farming culture,grassland nomadic culture and coastal Marine culture.This kind of cultural form is based on mixed agriculture in mountainous areas,which shows strong primitive nature worship and mountain worship complex and endows literature with a special mountain personality naturally.Southwest literature is a kind of hybrid literature.The characteristic of "mixed blood" in southwest literature is determined by the mixed blood of southwest culture.In history,southwest China is located in the intersection zone of Chinese civilization and Indian civilization,and is influenced by these two ancient human civilizations.It is also integrated with southeast Asian culture and Tibetan culture on the Qinghai-Tibet plateau.It is the so-called "middle circle" by anthropologist Wang Mingming.In addition,southwest China has been an important migration place for ethnic minorities such as Diqiang,Baiyue,Baipu and Miaoyao since ancient times,and the "Zang-yi corridor" pointed out by Fei Xiaotong is one of the main migration routes for northern ethnic groups in ancient times.With many ethnic groups merged and divided,ultimately more than 30 ethnic minority groups in southwest China now live together in large numbers and live together in small communities.It is the region with the largest number of ethnic minorities and the most intensive distribution.By virtue of the geographical form of high mountains and swift torrents in southwest China,most of the minority ethnic groups still keep their own cultural forms in good condition up to now.The above two factors determine the characteristics of "mixed blood"in the cultural source of southwest literature.In terms of the research approach,the dissertation is analyzed from five aspects:Firstly with the aid of postmodern perspective,this dissertation analyzes the historical causes of the southwest literature's identity of "the other" in the mainstream literature,and the construction of the "heterotopia" identity that is seen and imagined,summarizes the progress and deficiency of southwest literature in regional literature research since the end of last century,and points out the opportunity and significance of southwest literature in the post-modern era to realize discourse autonomy and aesthetic independence-this is the premise and significance of this research.Secondly,the "gene" composition of southwest literature is analyzed.Southwest literature can be kept as an independent unit in the territory of Chinese literature,which is bound to depend on the special geographical,historical and cultural soil in which it was conceived and grew.This section is discussed from three dimensions in details about the space(geography),time(history),and cultural,argues that the southwest mountain ecological environment,the long history of "the other",a variety of factors such as cultural hybridity,affect the literature growth direction and the aesthetic paradigm of literature,has shaped the general features and aesthetic character of southwest literature to a great extent.Next,the two most prominent aspects of the regional characteristics of southwest literature--"the natural attributes of mountains" and "the characteristics of multi-ethnic culture"--are analyzed in depth:"Mountain natural attribute" refers to the distinct tendency of nature writing and nature worship in southwest literature.The extraordinary craftsmanship and scenic landscape wilderness in the southwest plateau,which is highly dependent on the natural mountain agriculture form,is the original ecological consciousness relatively less affected by industrialization,so that the mountain residents retain the respect for the nature of aesthetic character to the maximum extent.This kind of psychological projection is mainly manifested in the description of the natural habitat in the mountain,the writing of the mixed agricultural production form in the mountain and the strong sense of ecological criticism in the literary creation.Secondly,"multi-ethnic cultural characteristics" is a highlight of southwest literature.The distribution of more than 30 ethnic minorities "living together in large numbers and living together in small Numbers" has constructed a diversified and mixed pattern of ethnic life and culture,which has become the general cultural background and even the writing focus of southwest literature.The emphasis is reflected in the following aspects:the writer consciously absorbs the rich ethnic folk literature in southwest China;takes the colorful production and life,traditional customs,religious rites,festivals and celebrations of various ethnic minorities as materials and writing objects;shows the minority's cultural consciousness and their psychological consciousness of cultural dispersion in the era of globalization;ethnic minority writers have a strong sense of cultural identity and stick to their mother culture through the choice of writing in their mother tongue.Lastly,it goes deep into the level of psychological consciousness and analyzes the specific regional mental images reflected by southwest literature.It is mainly manifested as:first,the self-psychological cognition of marginal identity.The so-called "southwest" is not an in-itself concept,but the result of the construction of mainstream hegemonic discourse.After thousands of years of strengthening and accumulation,it has been internalized into the collective unconsciousness of mountain residents.Dominated by such consciousness,it is mainly manifested in the alienation of grand narration,the aesthetic pursuit of "petty",and the freedom and vitality of a kind of marginal narration.Second,the reflection of mountain cultural psychology,which is embodied in the mountain worship and mountain character,close to nature and attach importance to kinship.Third,eternal homesickness:wandering memory and hometown complex.Southwest is a society mainly composed of immigrants'offspring:most of the minority groups migrated to the southwest to avoid war,oppression,or disaster in ancient times,they passed on the memory of their ancestors'wandering from generation to generation through myth,epic,legend,sacrifice,funeral ceremony and many other forms.In contrast,the ethnic Han in the southwest were mainly composed of immigrants in the form of garrison troops,villagers or merchants which were dominated by the government of each dynasty,their offspring also inherited the ancestral memory of homeland.This kind of universal collective memory makes the southwest literature suffused with lingering nostalgia and sentimentality.Fourth,the narrative position of folk underlying mass and suffering consciousness.This was determined by the political marginalization of the southwest,the low degree of industrialization of the mountain production patterns,and the common "other" consciousness of the minority groups.Self-conscious marginal consciousness means the deviation from elite position and the automatic generation of folk position,which is a common unconscious choice of southwest writers as intellectuals.This makes them instinctively adopt the narrative strategy of"downward" and "folk",focusing more on the little people and trivial incidents,and writing about the life experience and suffering of the underclass.In the post-modern era,the deconstruction of logocentrism has opened up a new field of self-expression for marginalized groups.Avoiding the gaze of the mainstream view will inevitably make the freedom and vitality of "marginal" literature jump out,that is,"marginal vitality" as is pointed out by Yang Yi.What this dissertation has discussed is the true face and free vitality of southwest literature which has long been regarded as the "silent other".