Theory Of Liu Wasteland Consciousness Of The Novel

In the 1980s, the Chinese society has undergone several earth-shaking changes. LiuHeng, asone of the representatives of new realistic novel writers, caught the social life and mental statesof that time. From the angle of the Chinese traditional wasteland consciousness, in thedescription of tragedy of the meaningless daily grind, he tried to search for the unharmoniousroot between people and the surroundings. He hoped he could find a way out of difficulties in thedilemma. From critics, scholars who study LiuHeng’s novels may comparatively analyze hisnovels from aspects like the existence dilemma, human enlightening, tragedy consciousness ofdestiny, food or sex, and other basic desires for survival, also from TV and film works. However,studies on LiuHeng novels’wasteland consciousness are fewer, this paper mainly concentrateson this point, and the details are as follows:The introduction part will focus on summarizing the creation path of LiuHeng’s novels.Whether in his early promising idealism works or later in the investigation on people’s livingdilemma, though LiuHeng’s novel writing style had changed dramatically, the attention ofwasteland consciousness always has been his unchangeable theme.By the way of studying on the development and the popularity of wasteland consciousness,the first chapter primarily introduces characteristics of wasteland consciousness. The image ofwasteland had appeared in ancient time, yet in the influence of Confucian, it couldn’t become amainstream. In the 1980s, with the violent conflicts of Chinese social life and values, wastelandconsciousness gradually has become contemporary scenery in literature history. Nevertheless,LiuHeng shaped a wasteland landscape of the loss of the meanings through the depiction theconflicts between characters’ instinct of life and social attribute. In his novels, LiuHengwasteland consciousness firstly featured in tragedy originated from the fixed space and time;secondly in intentionally simplified social background during specific times; then, in showingcharacteristics’naked desires of instinct; at last in conflicts between the character life instinct andsocial ethics.The second chapter is generally on the interpretation of LiuHeng’s works’material andspiritual wasteland. Thus it reveals the loss of wasteland consciousness. Analyzing from man’s basic survival needs, LiuHeng’s material wasteland mainly shows a lack of food, sex, and fortune;And the mental wasteland is demonstrated on food and sex, which are most substantial for acolorful life, as well as loneliness, emptiness, despair and so many aspects born with people. Onwasteland, whether materially or spiritually, people will never get satisfied, for deficient anddespair are both normal life states. All the meaning of losses results in no ending.In chapter three, on the study of how people get rid of wasteland, it explains the way out ofwastelands. On wasteland, one kind of people took a positive way to fight, and they tried tobreak the restriction on life through dissolving those deficient with the tough outer of life, buteventually that was destroyed; the other people relied on their own inner strength, holding anoptimism spirit winning method, live an industrious, serious life, and finally break away fromendless miseries. Viewing from the contrast of these two ways, LiuHeng told us, being stubborn,and optimist; hardworking, spirit-winning was the only way to get rid of wasteland.In the conclusion, from the change of LiuHeng’s creation style, once again, it demonstratesthe way out of wasteland. It reveals LiuHeng’s writing purpose: using words to make our nationprosperous and make people happier.