Folk Songs and National Studies: A Series of Comparative Literature

Author: Xu Xinjian
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-07-01
Features: This book consists of nine chapters. The first chapter discusses the basic context of the folk song movement from its initiation to its integration into the study of Chinese classics, while also providing a brief evaluation of the "Peking University Center" in its early stages. Chapters 2 and 3 are interconnected, both employing an analysis of the "three-tier structure" of officials, scholars, and common people to focus on the self-motivations of the intellectual community in the Republic of China for initiating the folk song movement and its historical background. Chapter 4 narrates the relationship between "New National Style," "New Literature," and "New Historiography," revealing how the intellectual community engaged in the "turn to the folk" from art to academia, contributing to the shaping of the nation and the construction of national history. Chapters 5 and 6 discuss the involvement of the music, folklore, and anthropology fields in the folk song movement during the same period, aiming to break free from the limitations of single disciplines and gain a more comprehensive understanding of the overall picture of "folk song research" at that time. Chapter 7 shifts the perspective, first emphasizing the "official tradition" in the folk song movement and comparing it with the "academic tradition," which has always played a central role in traditional literary narratives. Chapter 8 shifts the focus beyond the local context, analyzing how "Eastern" and "Western" influences similarly participated in the "turn to the folk" in Chinese academia since modern times. The ninth chapter serves as the conclusion but leaves the discussion unresolved, highlighting the significance of Zhu Ziqing's case and attempting to trace the "aftermath" of the folk song movement from a micro-level.