An Exploration Of The Modern Chinese Novels Of Picturesque Atmosphere

In recent years, the studies on the works of Chinese contemporary writers in the multi-culture have been an attraction and a hot issue. However, the Chinese contemporary literature in the perspective of painting is still the quietest field of the heated Chinese literature, even including the deeply researched field of Lu Xun's works. Many scholars point out that the literary research from the perspective of art worths further investigation. The relationship between the contemporary writers like Lu Xun and the art, especially their connection to the artistic spirit needs further exploration. For the present-day research achievements of Chinese contemporary literature from the perspective of painting and aesthetics, there are three deficiencies. First, attention is only paid to collecting and organizing all kinds of materials about the relationship between the writer and the art. Secondly, staying on the surface of the research, some scholars only point out that paintings do exist in some contemporary writers'works, and make simple comments on this atmosphere. Thirdly, very often, researchers focus their studies on the relationship between the individual writer (or his work) and the paintings, regardless of the integrated overview of the writers who have a close bearing with paintings and whose creations are deeply influenced by the art in the whole Chinese contemporary literature circle. The developing trend of this atmosphere--art in literature is still expected to further researched. Thus, the present studies and deficiency turn to be the basis on which the atmosphere is analyzed in this thesis. In China, literature and painting are called sister arts. "Poems contain paintings while paintings contain poems.""Poems are intangible painting while paintings are tangible poems."These two sentences explain the close relation between poems and painting: they are interwoven and complementary. Su Shi's affirmation that "poems and painting are integrative"has far-reaching impact on successive generations. The author finds out that such relation not only exist in traditional poems and prose, but also exist in some novels, prose, poems and essays in contemporary China. In this thesis, the author merely studies novels. From the perspective of painting and esthetics, the author puts forward the concept of "picturesque scene novel"and makes a comprehensive study of the phenomenon that contemporary novels contain paintings. At the same time, the author sorts out and studies the novelists who are familiar with the art of painting such as Lu Xun, Fei Ming, Shen Congwen, Xiao Hong and Zhang Ailing and the features of the novels which contain rich pictorial scenes. The novels of picturesque atmosphere are the novels that the writers immerges the conception, artifice and gusto of picture into their writings and with the use of the linguistic expressions similar to the line and color of the visual arts they create in the text such atmosphere and scenery of the writer's thought, feeling and aesthetic ideal and expand the space of novels and build rich artistic association and imagination. But due to the space of a graduation thesis, the author cannot reach every aspect of the matter but adopt the method of catching a glimpse of the matter and choose Lu Xun, Fei Ming and Zhang Ailing as typical case study and discuss the features and connotation of the novels of picturesque atmosphere. Regardless of contemporary research convention, which centers on the style and school, we will discover that Lu Xun, Fei Ming and Zhang Ailing share a notable similarity in the pursuit of picturesque atmosphere and artistic quality from the perspective of the internal aesthetic artistry of novels. One thing they have in common is that the atmosphere of their novels is linked to the atmosphere of Chinese painting, which can fall into the aesthetic category of "cold"and lays the foundation for a comparative study. The similarity of their novels forms the internal and prescriptive features of novels of picturesque atmosphere. Their novels are distinctive. The Outcry and Wandering of Lu Xun are close to the traditional line drawing and the Bridge of Fei Ming is a freehand brush painting and the Legend of Zhang Ailing is a combination of the traditional Chinese realistic painting with fine and delicate strokes and the grandiloquent western paintings, an impressionist canvas that blends the different artistic style of the east and the west. All those differences account for the abundance and complexity of the Chinese novels of picturesque atmosphere. As their creations last for thirty years in Chinese modern and contemporary literature, their works have a partly hidden and partly visible connection: Lu Xun, the source of modern novels of picturesque atmosphere; Fei Ming, the representative and Zhang Ailing, the epitome. From their works, we can trace the development of modern Chinese novels of picturesque atmosphere. Is it a chance encounter or a meaningful combination for novels and picturesque atmosphere? We will probe into the tradition for the answer. The author notices that it is a long tradition to combine novels with picturesque atmosphere. In Ming and Qing periods, the so-called second awaking era of Chinese literary consciousness by some scholars, a time for novel to break from the subordinate role to historical writings and when novels needn't be as faithful as historical writings but an independent artistic with fictional characteristic, the novelists bring painting into their writings. The critics, known as the intimate friends, draw painting into the study of artistic intention and novel review. At that time, the picturesque atmosphere was an aesthetic aspiration of the novelists to express their emotions and improve their artistic quality. In the period of "new literature", Lu Xun and other writers start a new attempt to create the picturesque atmosphere in the novels and thus move the traditional novels of picturesque atmosphere to modernism. The author holds that the emergence of the novels of picturesque atmosphere in Chinese modern literature is due to such authors like Lu Xun, Fei Ming and Zhang Ailing who, under the influence of traditional Chinese art and culture, are of high artistic accomplishment. In their writings, they consciously inherit, enrich and develop the tradition of blending literature, painting and art into one, which fills their novel with profound aesthetic flavors and implicit and though-provoking connotations. In addition, the thesis attempts to shift formal poetics to cultural poetics and investigate, from the perspective of the Chinese and western cultural poetics, the national features and modernism of modern novels of picturesque atmosphere. In this sense, with an inheritance from the tradition and innovation on their own, the modern novels of picturesque atmosphere have scaled the height of modernism. An exploration of the history and development of novels of picturesque atmosphere will offer lots of new insights. There is reason to believe that it is an encounter of "soul and flesh"between novels and picturesque atmosphere. The establishment of Chinese novels of picturesque atmosphere is a significant aesthetic journey. All these will definitely have a great impact on the artistic creation of contemporary novels.