Research On The Writing Of Natural Disasters In Alai’s Novels

Alai is well known in the literary world for his writings on Tibetan lands,and for his long novel The Dust Settles,which won the Fifth Mao Dun Literary Award,but many researchers have focused on his writings on Tibetan customs,paying less attention to the equally important writings on natural disasters in his novels.The natural disasters in Alai’s novel are unique in that they are set in the Jiarong Tibetan region,showing the life and spiritual state of the Tibetan people in the face of natural disasters,and along with the modernisation of the Tibetan region,people’s beliefs about nature are also quietly changing.The strong Tibetan cultural and religious atmosphere in the novel adds an air of mystery to the writing of natural disasters,and the unique use of Tibetan religious wisdom in the writing of disasters allows the novel to transcend ordinary disaster situations,a unique Tibetan quality that is the distinctive hallmark of Alai’s natural disaster writing.In addition,the novel’s sense of reflection and examination of disasters,as well as the search for death and life,transcend the individual and the ethnic group and have a broader and more profound significance.A-lai writes about natural disasters with great love,fulfilling the responsibility of literary reflection and redemption.The Tibetan disaster writing in his novels fills in the cultural memory of Tibetan disasters,the intervention of religious theology in disaster situations,and the poetic presentation of tragedy,all of which have important implications for contemporary disaster literature.The thesis understands the writing of natural disasters in Alai’s novels within the context of disaster literature,taking into account the actual geographical development of the Tibetan people and with a religious cultural perspective.The main focus of the study is on novels dealing with avalanches,forest fires,mudslides and earthquake disasters,such as The Light of Snow around the Mountains,Fire in the Sky,Desolation and A Tale in the Clouds.In addition to the introductory and concluding sections,the study is carried out in three main chapters,as follows:The first chapter,The causes and presentation of Alai’s fictional writing on natural disasters.Firstly,the causes of the writer’s writing about disasters are explored from three aspects: the geographical environment,the influence of the fusion of many cultures and the writer’s own sense of responsibility,taking into account the writer’s life experiences.The natural disaster-prone Jiarong Tibetan region provides the resources for his disaster writing;the influence of Tibetan religious culture,folk culture and Chinese Taoist culture gives him a keen perception and unique understanding of natural disasters;the writer’s own sense of responsibility,Alai takes the initiative to assume the responsibility of literary writing in the face of disasters.Secondly,we select representative novels of different disaster genres to present the charm of Alai’s natural disaster writing from textual interpretation.In addition,we can find that Alai’s writing on natural disasters in different stages of his novels generally shows a chronological change from environmental background to criticism of the politics of the times to reflection on man and nature to post-disaster spiritual reconstruction,from which we can perceive the focus of Alai’s writing on disasters and the deepening development of disaster awareness.The second chapter,Alai’s novel embraces the religious philosophy of disaster awareness.Disaster consciousness is the ultimate meaning of disaster literature,so this chapter,based on the first chapter,focuses on the disaster consciousness behind the writing of natural disasters in Alai’s novels.Under the influence of the primitive Tibetan disaster consciousness,the disaster consciousness that is embedded in the religious wisdom of the Tibetan people is mainly manifested in Alai’s novels,which are reflective consciousness,critical consciousness and life consciousness.The novel reflects on the relationship between man and nature in the modern development of the Tibetan region in the context of disasters;through examining the lives and psychological changes of the people under disasters,it shows the alienation and reversion of human nature;the consciousness of life under the influence of traditional Tibetan culture,the understanding of death and life is full of religious philosophical thoughts.The third chapter,The meaningful value of Alai’s fictional writing about natural disasters.On the basis of the previous two chapters,we place Alai’s disaster writing in the field of contemporary disaster literature,highlight its uniqueness through comparison,and then grasp the meaningful value of Alai’s fictional writing on natural disasters.Firstly,it has an expanding significance for contemporary disaster literature.Alai fills in the memory of Tibetan disaster culture in contemporary disaster literature with his disaster writing;he transcends the general pattern of disaster situations in disaster literature with the intervention of religious theology;his poetic language provides a broader aesthetic space for the presentation of tragedies in disaster novels.Secondly,it has humanistic spiritual value.By writing about disasters,Alai’s novels awaken human beings’ reflective consciousness,so that they can properly view the relationship between man and nature.At the same time,the warmth and love in his disaster writing give the novel a unique tolerance and release in Tibetan religion,providing readers with a spiritual release of emotions,thus achieving spiritual comfort and salvation of the soul.