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Han Shaogong xiao shuo yan jiu : yi zhong xian dai xing de wen xue xu shi = A critical study of Han Shaogong's novels
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Type
Thesis
Other titles
韩少功小说研究 : 一种现代性的文学叙事
Author
Chen, Le
Supervisor
Quah, Sy Ren
Abstract
Han Shaogong (1953-) is a distinguished contemporary novelist of China. His works are considered the milestones in the literary development of China during the period after the Great Cultural Revolution (GCR). The novels he published during mid-1980s have been regarded as the magnum opuses of xungen ('root-seeking') literature and his most recent works Dictionary of Maqiao and An shi (Intimation) initiated a far-reaching and long-lasting discussion in China.
There are critical studies on Han's works published during the last several years. But few of them have really put Han's works in a wider social and cultural context for analyzing with a coherent and global perspective. This situation has necessarily led to a partial, discrete and rigid view of Han's works. The current work aimed to overcome these insufficiencies, break through the entrenched critique framework, conduct a comprehensive study and reinterpretation of Han's works by combining the investigation of the quest of modernity in China at different stages. A clearer picture of how Han and his works were evolving during different periods is presented.
The thesis is arranged in seven chapters.
Chapter one sets the stage and the mission for the work.
Chapter two aimed to clarify the difference and the connection among the concepts of "modernity". "modernism", "post-modernism" and "modernization", with an emphasis on modernity.
Chapter three concentrates on the analysis of modernity as a condition in China. Comparing three debates in different periods, the process of how Chinese intellectuals got in touch with the western idea of modernity, started to accept, and finally assimilated it into their own tradition is recounted. As Han was one of those intellectuals and had participated in such process through a series of publication of novels, this chapter aims to present the characteristics and limitations of his milieu, in which Han kept on reflecting on the modernity of China.
Chapter four reviews Han's earlier works. After systematically evaluating the effects of the country's modernization policies on literary development, this chapter demonstrates the complex interrelation between Han's novels and the mainstream discourses through the discussion of two themes of the Chinese modernity.
Chapter five is organized into three sections. The first section analyzes the context of the Culture Fever; clarifies the modernity appeals demonstrated through the so-called root-seeking movement by surveying the disputed subjects during the period, and Han's stance in this debate. Section two finds Han's unique contribution to this movement by comparing his works with the works of his contemporaries. Section three points out Han's contradiction on root-seeking between his explicit opinions expressed in his essays and his positions represented in his novels.
Chapter six anatomizes Han's first novel, The Dictionary of Ma Qiao. Han's comprehensive reflection on Chinese modernity in the 1990s is discussed through several aspects such as language, culture, history and text form. This chapter probes into Han's underlying attitude of modernity in this novel, and comes to a conclusion, which differs from the views of existing criticism.
Chapter seven is the conclusion. Han's reflective and rational nature, and his self-positioning and role-seeking as a contemporary Chinese intellectual, has determined the particularity of his works. The uniqueness of Han's works in fact embodies a strong sense of modernity, which is where the value of Han's works lies in.
There are critical studies on Han's works published during the last several years. But few of them have really put Han's works in a wider social and cultural context for analyzing with a coherent and global perspective. This situation has necessarily led to a partial, discrete and rigid view of Han's works. The current work aimed to overcome these insufficiencies, break through the entrenched critique framework, conduct a comprehensive study and reinterpretation of Han's works by combining the investigation of the quest of modernity in China at different stages. A clearer picture of how Han and his works were evolving during different periods is presented.
The thesis is arranged in seven chapters.
Chapter one sets the stage and the mission for the work.
Chapter two aimed to clarify the difference and the connection among the concepts of "modernity". "modernism", "post-modernism" and "modernization", with an emphasis on modernity.
Chapter three concentrates on the analysis of modernity as a condition in China. Comparing three debates in different periods, the process of how Chinese intellectuals got in touch with the western idea of modernity, started to accept, and finally assimilated it into their own tradition is recounted. As Han was one of those intellectuals and had participated in such process through a series of publication of novels, this chapter aims to present the characteristics and limitations of his milieu, in which Han kept on reflecting on the modernity of China.
Chapter four reviews Han's earlier works. After systematically evaluating the effects of the country's modernization policies on literary development, this chapter demonstrates the complex interrelation between Han's novels and the mainstream discourses through the discussion of two themes of the Chinese modernity.
Chapter five is organized into three sections. The first section analyzes the context of the Culture Fever; clarifies the modernity appeals demonstrated through the so-called root-seeking movement by surveying the disputed subjects during the period, and Han's stance in this debate. Section two finds Han's unique contribution to this movement by comparing his works with the works of his contemporaries. Section three points out Han's contradiction on root-seeking between his explicit opinions expressed in his essays and his positions represented in his novels.
Chapter six anatomizes Han's first novel, The Dictionary of Ma Qiao. Han's comprehensive reflection on Chinese modernity in the 1990s is discussed through several aspects such as language, culture, history and text form. This chapter probes into Han's underlying attitude of modernity in this novel, and comes to a conclusion, which differs from the views of existing criticism.
Chapter seven is the conclusion. Han's reflective and rational nature, and his self-positioning and role-seeking as a contemporary Chinese intellectual, has determined the particularity of his works. The uniqueness of Han's works in fact embodies a strong sense of modernity, which is where the value of Han's works lies in.
Date Issued
2005
Call Number
PL2861.A6 C44
Date Submitted
2005