Introduction to Western Literature

Author: Lei Tipei
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-04-01
Features: Years of teaching Western literature on the lecture platform cannot compare to writing a history of Western literature. Writing is arduous; immersing oneself in the spiritual realm inevitably means abandoning the real world. Besides ensuring the physical existence of life, almost all other material aspects of reality vanish. While others enjoy family and life during holidays, I toiled away in my study, even failing to leave during the Spring Festival. This book is part of the "Research on the Dual Expansion of Literary Courses in the Cultivation of New-Style Chinese Talents in Higher Education" under the "New Century Higher Education Teaching Reform Project" of Fujian Province, and was greatly supported by the Fujian Provincial Department of Education and Quanzhou Normal University. The research on Western literature presented in this book explores human pursuits, explorations, struggles, and more—all aimed at achieving perfection, which is an effort to seek freedom and ideals. In humans, this effort manifests in three ways: first, those who fall; second, those with unstable spirits; and third, those who despair in their search. In Western literature, whether as a member of the human race or as an individual, this exploration is particularly prominent and profound. Therefore, grasping the spirit of human exploration is to grasp the essence of Western literature.