A Comparative Study Of Ernest Hemingway And Shen Congwen's Death Consciousness

Despite their difference in nationality, Ernest Hemingway and Shen Congwen are successful literati in the 20th century, who focus on human nature and devote themselves to the Death motif. Their similar childhoods, military lives and the social backgrounds are indispensable for the forming of their individual death consciousness. Based on the history of Western and Chinese death consciousness, Hemingway and Shen Congwen inherit different "collective unconsciousness" of death. This thesis conducts a text-analytical comparison of the two writers' famous short stories which reflect their death consciousness incisively and vividly.The purpose of this thesis is to explore the development of their death consciousness and search for the cultural and philosophical reasons. Owing to different cultures and philosophical perspectives about death, the descriptions and characters in their short stories are different. In addition, there are similarities between their short stories. For example, both of them portray a series of Heroes; both combine two of the eternal literary motifs—Love and Death together; both apply similar artistic skills to express death, like symbolism and connotation.In conclusion, through comparing short stories on theme of death, analyzing their death consciousness, we can explore their writing thoughts and the deep philosophical and cultural reasons of their differences. At the same time, the comparison may work as the communication between Eastern and Western cultures. The two writers' attitudes towards death and life should be affirmed positively. Those characters bravely facing difficulties and death can inspire people's struggle in this rapidly developing society.