"Ordinary" Orientation In Extraordinary Wartime: Analysis On Zhang Ai-ling And Su Qing's Outlook On Life And Literature

The thesis is a case study of Zhang Ai-ling (hereafter Zhang) and Su Qing (hereafter Su), two representative writers in Occupied Area. Based on the text and historical facts analysis, it intends to focus on the causation of these two writers' deliberate 'ordinary' orientation towards life and literature works during the vital wartime of the nation. It also proposes the way on how to evaluate the orientation, accordingly, the question how to evaluate 'Middle writers' in Occupied Area. Due to 'Middle writers', neither anti-Japanese nor hangers-on, represent the main stream in the literature of Occupied Area and have the same orientation: deliberately be 'ordinary' in literature, the research on this group of writers' orientation is inevitable in the literature study of Occupied Area.The thesis points out that Zhang and Su's deliberate 'ordinary' orientation in wartime is not only a sort of unavoidable strategy under the suppression of Enemy and Puppet Regime, but also their self-conscious choice to avoid responsibilities and exculpate themselves. Their life choice of love of individual ease had been rationalized by way of such verbalism as 'dealing delicately with oneself' (以弱自处) and 'shift off from responsibilities because of weakness' (因弱卸责).Actually, they stressed on the unchangability of the troubled times. Thus, they intended to take the life choice of selfish egoism and enjoyable 'mundane ness' for granted. Then, the thesis provides the comparison between Zhang's and Fu Lei's ethic points of view in literature contention and the analysis of Su's secular philosophy of 'seek for life and avoid death, seek for pleasure and avoid hardship', and further exposes that the 'ordinary' orientation of Middle writers represented by Zhang, Su and others in wartime is substantially a sort of mundane ness and egoismSince the victory of Anti-Japanese War, both Zhang and Su had an apologia published, in which they insisted that their literary works had nothing to do with politics, and their association with high officials in Enemy and Puppet Regime was merely the personal behavior, which was not necessarily be explained to the public. Whereas, it was in Occupied Area, the special living environment that they deliberately emphasized bitter-sweet spice of ordinary life and tranquility of human nature, in order to deconstruct heroism of saving the nation from extinction and live on smoothly and steadily. They had the keenly revealment towards 'ordinary' nature of mundane human beings, towards the secret and grievance of human nature. However, the principle of survival and the dignity of being a human were neglected inevitably; what is more, this led the ordinary people into a passively resigned state. It is really not a contentious fact that, objectively, such orientation agrees with the attempt of Enemy and Puppet Regime to disintegrate national will of people in Occupied Area. And it is just because of this fact that Zhang and Su were exploited by Japanese Puppet governors and publicized as cultural icons; meanwhile they were also vested interest in Occupied Area. Furthermore, the pervasiveness of 'the existential literature', represented by them, which had developed rather successfully and promoted each other in Occupied Area, had intangibly influenced and led the populace to be adapted to occupied reality. This is ineffaceable historical fact, either. Finally, it is pointed out that most current criticism works, which neglect this perspective, merely stress tolerance and sympathy towards these writers, They painstakingly exaggerate the art attractiveness and super political reveal of innermost feeling of human nature of the 'Middle state', depreciate the anti-Japanese war literature, which insisted on the national standing point and the dignity of being a human, devalue the value of people who scarified themselves in various ways in the national war. Obviously, this is out of fairness.