Research On Pioneer Criticism In The 1980s

Bidding farewell to thought instability and durance during the "ten years of turmoil" in the 1980s, Chinese literary world ushered in the "resuscitation and prosperity after the great historic turning point". The majority of intellectuals gradually embarked on a new journey of enlightenment and exploration. They have played a part in building a free, harmonious and open cultural exchange system on the historical ruins, with "Pioneer Criticism" an important strength among them.Emerging in early 1980s, "Pioneer Criticism" enjoyed a short "glorious decade" and then stepped into silence, with its representatives including Li Tuo, Huang Ziping, Ji Hongzhen, Li Jiefei, Lu Wenhu, Wu Liang, Li Jie, Xu Zidong, Chen Sihe, Wang Xiaoming and Chen Xiaoming. From the perspective of pure literature, "Pioneer Criticism" regarded "literary form", "literary language", "subject consciousness", "aesthetic experience" as its core and focus. The criticism strived to refute the past traditional critical pattern including "literary character, public opinion is scheduled for uniformity". And it highlighted the subject consciousness and the spirit of exploration in critical practice. Pioneer critics championed in the subversion of the traditional critical pattern of struggle. As it is popular on the debating stage for its fabulous thoughts and keen criticism, "Pioneer Criticism" has led the trend for a while. Meanwhile, the development of "pioneer criticism" goes beyond literature, with significant achievements in such areas as art, painting, drama and film. All those efforts have promoted the discourse construction of "Pioneer Criticism".The "Pioneer criticism" is put in the grand historical context for investigation. Seeing from the development of criticism genres, we can find that both "pioneer spirit" and "aesthetic nature" run through it, which become the ultimate belief for pioneer critics. On one hand, "Pioneer criticism" focuses on text, form and structure, under the influence of western modern theory. On the other hand, the criticism shows strong subject consciousness and aesthetic emotion in the political context of speech freedom. Because the criticism here is considered as self-expression and value creation with emphasis on their emotional catharsis, it presents strong critical consciousness and the formalism tendency. As a result, "Pioneer Criticism" has laid the seeds of decline in the initial prosperous period.In the 1980s, the vigorous development of "Pioneer Criticism" is inseparable from the prosperity of "vanguard literature". By virtue of the pioneer novel creation upsurge, a large number of young critics came into sight. Involved in a wave of criticism and philosophy, they have accumulated rich practical experience for the development of literary criticism. The aggregation and disintegration of the circle play an important role in the growth of "Pioneer Criticism" in the past decade. Just as the saying goes:the success or the failure of the affair is all to Xiao He, "Pioneer Criticism" eventually declines in the late 1980s, due to the following reasons: the zealous worship for extraterritorial theory, the abandon of traditional theory, wanton emotional judgment and value judgment malady, supplemented by "the vanguard literature" disappearing.