The Pursuit Of Existence

Since the 1990 s,Chen Xiwo has taken pain as the internal driving force of his writing,using the real world of pain as the subject matter of his stories,and has launched an existential inquiry under pain.This paper consists of three parts: introduction,body,and conclusion,and attempts to study the theoretical connotation,textual presentation,and narrative strategy of Chen Xiwo’s "pain writing",so as to grasp Chen Xiwo’s "pain writing" as a whole.The first chapter analyzes the conceptual connotation and production process of Chen Xiwo’s "pain writing",which is the core issue of this study.This paper first compares the difference between the connotation and boundary of the concepts of"pain" writing and "pain writing",and finds that "pain" writing refers only to the creator’s preference for pain in the subject matter,while "pain writing" is a special kind of creative attitude adopted by the writing subject in constructing the world of fiction.This creative attitude reveals the moral commitment and responsibility of the writer,manipulates the generation of creative motives,influences the choice of materials for literary creation,and constrains the construction of the content and form of the work.Thus,this paper defines the concept of "pain writing" in four aspects: thematic ideas,writing ethics,subject matter selection,and rhetorical forms.Secondly,this paper analyzes the process of Chen Xiwo’s "pain writing" based on M.H Abrams’ theory of the four elements of literature.It shows that "pain" is the core of the communication and transmission between "world——writer——work——reader.This paper shows the logical closed loop of communication and transmission of pain between "world——writer——work——reader" with "pain" as the core.The second chapter explores the textual presentation of Chen Xiwo’s "pain writing" from the perspective of "what to write".Firstly,it compares the understanding of the body in the history of Western philosophy,and clarifies that this paper’s understanding of the body is based on the phenomenology of the body,and regards the body as a holistic body that unites the body and the spirit.Secondly,this paper clarifies the theoretical connotation of physical pain and spiritual pain in Chen Xiwo’s novels,and analyzes the phenomenon of mutual influence and transformation between the physical pain and spiritual pain in Chen Xiwo’s writing.Finally,this paper divides the "pain sufferers" in Chen Xiwo’s writing into "the sick","the dispersed","the impoverished",and "the offended".and how Chen Xiwo realizes the novel’s questioning of existence through the writing of pain by means of a close reading of the text.The third chapter analyzes the narrative strategy of Chen Xiwo’s "pain writing" from the perspective of "how to write",and explores how the form and content of Chen Xiwo’s "pain writing" serve the content of the novel.The content of Chen Xiwo’s "pain writing" serves the theme of the novel.Firstly,Chen Xiwo uses painful words as a powerful weapon to sting the readers’ numb nerves and make them reflect on themselves;secondly,this section explores the artistic tension of Chen Xiwo’s narrative,which,on the one hand,achieves similarity with the modern mental world through unreliable narrators;on the other hand,both the explicit and implicit narrators in the novel appear as tortured;In addition,Chen Xiwo intentionally omits and downplays the elements of character,plot,and setting in the narrative.The vacancy of fictional elements is the means by which Chen Xiwo conveys the concept of fiction and expresses the uncertainty and meaninglessness of human existence.Thus the extreme and painful form will force the reader to think and feel,and make the reader reflect on the real existence of the self in the world of experience.