Literary? Academic? Th

In this paper, the social mechanism of the "folk songs" at the beginning of twentieth Century, the controversial words of the definition of the "folk songs" and the representative characters who were engaged in the practice of "folk songs" are analyzed. This shows that it is related with the academic and literature problems at the beginning of the birth of "folk song". By analyzing the dilemma in defining the "folk songs", we can work out the controversial issues about the "folk songs" today, and promote the understanding of the relationship between "folk songs" and "New Literature" development.At first, this paper takes the social mechanism of the "folk song" as the main object. The exposition is divided into three parts. The first part is the "culture" of the historical demands before 1918. The second part is the connection between the development of "New Culture Movement" and the rise of the "folk songs". The third part is about the differentiation of the "New Culture Movement" and debates of the "folk songs". Secondly, the conflict between "literature" and "academic" is the main idea. We discuss the questions that what the realness of the "folk song" is; whether the "folk song" can be polished; and when collecting "folk songs", they pay attention to "accent" or "meanings". Then this paper is centered on Zhou Zuoren’s "dilemma":"academic" or "literature". Zhou Zuoren is one of the most representative figures of the "folk song" theory and practice. By studying Zhou Zuoren’s definition on the "folk songs", we can find out the differentiation of the "New Culture Movement" and the contradictoriness of the "folk songs".At last, this paper attempts figure out the cause of the conflicting definition of the "folk songs". Influenced by Western academic thoughts, Chinese university institutions begin to differentiate, which brings professional division. So the writers and folklorists emphasized the "folk songs" from different aspects. Another aspect is that people had different cultural positions and research paths.