Modern Imagination of Contemporary Chinese Prose Theory - Collection of PhD Dissertations from Chinese Social Sciences

Author: Cai Jiangzhen
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-03-01
Features: Modernity theory in Chinese prose is the main form of prose theory in the 20th century. Labeling the modernity issue of the entire prose theory as "imagination" is to highlight the constructive and creative characteristics of modernity theory. This paper argues that the "Chinese-Western distinction" is the perspective of modernity in Chinese culture, as well as the fundamental spirit of the modernity concept in prose theory. This is also the starting point for developing this topic. First, the author points out that Liang Qichao's "literary revolution" laid the foundation for the operation of prose, a way that integrates literary goals and cultural values. Choosing prose to disseminate modern concepts played a decisive role in the germination of the modernity concept in prose theory. Meanwhile, the proposal of "literature for humanity" during the May Fourth Movement confirmed the pursuit of humanization as the modernity dimension of literature, established the free subject as the core of literary modernity, enabled the modern transformation of the literary spirit, and under this premise promoted the self-awareness of genre creation in prose theory, allowing prose to transcend the limitations of radical "anti-tradition." This paper also uses paradigm theory to study the modernity process of Chinese prose theory, elaborating in detail the establishment and continuous enrichment and maturation of this new paradigm, which challenges and subverts traditional prose theory, aiming to clarify a more graspable theoretical dimension. The author emphasizes that modernity theory pursues "leisure and ease" as the aesthetic goal of prose, with the fundamental purpose of promoting individuality and the free spirit of prose, avoiding the instrumentalization of cultural criticism in prose.