Comparative Study Of Chinese And Japanese Literature In The Perspective Of Their Reception For Sartre's Existentialism

Jean-Paul Sartre was a famous French existentialist,writer and social activist.As a representative of existentialism,Sartre's philosophical ideas met the spiritual need of the survivor of WWII.Thus,his opinion of existentialism had profoundly influenced the whole world.Sartre's existential philosophy is mainly threefold,Existence precedes essence,autonomy of will,and L'enfer,c'est les autres(Hell is other people).This thesis tends to explain the application of Sartre's philosophical ideas in typical literary works,and then proceeds to give an analysis of Sartre's assertion that literature should intervene in the society.Kenzaburo Oe,as the second Japanese writer that had won the Nobel Prize in Literature,is under the influence of Sartre's Existentialism.The first creating decade of Oe,from the publication of his first short story The Strange Work(1957)to his masterpiece The Silent Cry(1967),gives shape to his unique literary style.This thesis focuses on Oe's works in this first decade to analyze of his acceptance of Sartre's existentialism.With the analyzing of Lavish Are The Dead(1957),Prize Stock(1957),and A Personal Matter(1964),this thesis explains Oe's acceptance of Sartre's existentialism and his creation of literary works in the style of Oe's existentialism.Wang Zengqi was definitely a giant of contemporary Chinese writers.He was regarded as the representative of National Cultural Novel due to the Chinese cultural elements and Chinese artistic spirit intertwined in his novels.These Chinese elements also attract literary historians' interest in his early works created in 1940s,which finally gained him the fame as a successor of Beijing School Writers.According to the biography of Wang Zengqi,he had been profoundly influenced by Western Modern Literature and contemporary thoughts during his study in National Southwestern Associated University.He once had stated that "when I was studying in National Southwestern Associated University,I had accepted various literary and philosophical thoughts.I read a lot of books randomly;among them there were many modernist works.At that time,Sartre's works had been introduced in China,so I had also read several books of existentialism.Though I didn't understand them exactly,I was pretty sure that I had been influenced by it".Hence,this thesis tends to find out whether the early works of Wang Zengqi contains the influence of Sartre's existentialism or not.And if the answer is yes,on what aspects do they convey the meaning of existentialism.This thesis mainly consists of five chapters.The first chapter gives a brief introduction to the three principles of Sartre's existentialism and his literary works.The second chapter analyzes the influence of Sartre's existentialism to both Japanese and Chinese literatus,which is delivered on the reasons and representations of the influence.The third chapter focuses on Kenzaburo Oe's works in his first creating decade,with the analysis of Lavish Are The Dead,Prize Stock,and A Personal Matter,it explains Oe's acceptance of Sartre's existentialism and his creation of literary works in the style of Oe's existentialism.The fourth chapter emphasizes on Wang Zengqi's novels to explain his acceptance of Sartre's existentialism and his formation of his own existential style in the field of literature.The last chapter gives a comparison between Kenzaburo Oe and Wang Zengqi in the perspective of Sartre's existentialism.According to the analysis of Oe's works in his first creating decade,his reception of Sartre's existentialism is embodied in"taboo state",teenagers,initiation,and Oe's transcendence of Sartre.While representing in Wang Zengqi's early novels,his reception of Sartre's existentialism lies on the autonomy of will,self-deception,and the thorough realization of self-existence.