Description Of Humanity And Reflection On The Lack Of Faith In Contemporary China

Since the1990s, officialdom novels have become a literary phenomenon in China. Literary critics have different points of view on this phenomenon. However, no comprehensive and systematic research has so far been attempted. Most critics evaluated the value of a novel from the perspective of sociology and politics, lack of in-depth analysis of humanistic connotations. For instance, there have been seldom theoretical discussions on these novels. Some critics regard the evaluations of some kinds of officialdom novels as the evaluations of the whole, and therefore the key trends of officialdom novels have not been identified. This study, however, distinguishes officialdom ecology novels from officialdom anti-corruption novels from the perspectives of themes, characters, plots and values, with more emphasis on officialdom ecology novels. Innovative value of officialdom ecology novels has been revealed by text analyses, such as integration of thinking about society and life into description of the minutiae, allegorical imagery, and paradoxical logic structure.The first chapter elaborates the concept of officialdom novels, distinguishing officialdom ecology novels from officialdom anti-corruption novels from the perspectives of themes, characters, plots and values, and reveals the reason of the prosperity of officialdom novels, that is, bureaucratic culture has a significant impact on this society. Officialdom novels have become a window, through which the mass can pry into the mystery of officialdom. In addition, modern officialdom novels inherit and develop traditional satirical novel, condemnation novels and muckraking novels, in line with the law of modern literature. The study briefly reviews research on contemporary officialdom novels, and tries to find out positive factors in officialdom ecology novels.The second chapter points out the trends of allegorizing hidden behind the absurd and exaggerated plots, cartoon characters and huge implication imageries, exemplified by the novels Cang Huang, Ru Feng, Gou Ri De Qian Cheng, Nu Tong Zhi. The humanistic connotations in novels have been interpreted from the points of view of individual dilemma, plight of the female under male chauvinism, and plight of all citizens.The third chapter provides some reflections on the social phenomena appeared in officialdom novels, such as the worship of power in rural society, the deviation from cultural and moral traditions of the intelligentsia, and lack of new spiritual sustenance after abandoning their old beliefs. The source of lack of faith among contemporary Chinese people has further been investigated.The last chapter mainly investigates on author’s philosophical thinking hidden behind the paradoxical logic structure. The novels suggest that the individuals are coerced by the collective, an individual cannot resist the assimilation process of the whole society, and commitments to individual’s values will eventually be destroyed by this era. The authors also mentioned the rebellion of the humans in this logical structure of social incrimination, i.e., insisting on the goodness of humankind when fighting against the world. The authors’philosophical thinking about existence was hidden behind the paradoxical logic and the ambiguous point of view of value. These thoughts made officialdom novels sublime from merely criticism of officialdom to philosophical thinking, and thus the novels were endowed with more profound implications.