Comparative Analysis On “I-noveI” Of Yu Dafu And Satou Haruo

Yu Dafu, the modern distinguished novelist of China, published his brilliant work, Chen Lun, in 1921 which had been of epoch-making significance in the history of Chinese modern literature. The novel depicts a Chinese young man living in Japan. His life away from home reflected kinds of internal feelings like isolation, emptiness and melancholy. The emphatic concerns on psychological changes and some sexual depression of the protagonist make a great contribution to distinguishing this work from traditional ones. It was innovative for the work to focus on the inner process and description of human psychology, which could be a bold attempt in the narrative skills, and meanwhile brought new vitality to the Chinese modern literature. Such a unique form was actually influenced by Japanese “I-novel”, especially by Satou Haruo’s Denen no Yuutsu. Based all of these, the dissertation sets the study on the comparison between the two works by using the characters of the “I-novel”, and furthermore, finds out the profound meaning behind. To be specific, firstly, as the introduction, the friendship between the two should be introduced, which helped to figure out their backgrounds. Besides, the detailed introduction on the “I-novel” would be put as following where its relationship with the Chinese modern literature could be clear. Secondly, the main analysis is about the reference and innovation of Chen Lun from Denen no Yuutsu. They share the same subjects since things around are employed to expose the self artistically; “intertextuality” in two works, the melancholic protagonists and failure of runaway from cities to rural life are pointed out as well. However, the essential difference between the melancholic protagonists contributed to the unique character of Chen Lun. Moreover, Yu Dafu’s novel, compared with the modernity of Denen no Yuutsu, was more realistic, which worth further study in this thesis.It could be concluded that Chen Lun is influential in writing techniques and the form of Denen no Yuutsu. However, the protagonist in Denen no Yuutsu is annoyed by psychological confusion on the personal value and meaning of life, which is more inclined to the single sorrow, an individual thought lack of social ideology. Chen Lun, by contrast, put its view on the country along with the individual. It cares the voice from the intellectuals who earnestly hope to strengthen their community, and meanwhile manifests the author’s patriotism. Yu Dafu borrowed the “I-novel” form to express Chinese spirit, its optimism on life, whose deep meaning had promoted the value of the work.