Modernity and the May Fourth Literary Current

Author: Yu Zhaoping
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2002-05-01
Features: This new work primarily reanalyzes the formation, development, and variation of three major literary trends during the May Fourth period—realism, romanticism, and cultural conservatism—from the theoretical perspective of modernity. As many scholars have pointed out, modernity actually encompasses two distinct components: "historical modernity," which manifests as the Enlightenment spirit and its unfolding, and "aesthetic modernity," which is reflected in the establishment of artistic autonomy and self-discipline. The author's choice of a scientificist theoretical perspective indicates a greater emphasis on situating the evolution of modern Chinese literary trends within the framework of historical modernity rather than solely aesthetic modernity. Consequently, he focuses more on the historical context—the external factors—of the changes in literary trends. In other words, the "research model" emphasized in this book is an "external-factor model"; this also implies that the breakthrough strategy chosen by the author is an "external-factor approach."