The Role of Literary Debate in the Second Decade

The development and evolution of proletarian literature, democratic literature and liberal literature respectively constitute two basic clues of modern literature in the 1930s. 1. Symbol of revolutionary literature: 1928, member of Sun Society and later Creation Society, advocated "revolutionary literature".

2. In March of the same year, Hu Shi, Xu Zhimo and Liang Shiqiu. Expressed their attitude, that is, to maintain the principles of "independence", "health" and "dignity".

Second, the distinctive features of this period:

1. The atmosphere of freedom of thought initiated by the May 4th Movement disappeared, and the mainstream of literature became unprecedented politicized.

2. The proletarian revolutionary literary movement has promoted the spread and application of Marxist literary theory, and determined the face of the literary world in the next twenty or thirty years.

3. At the same time as the rise of left-wing literature, liberal writers competed with other kinds of literature, which enriched the literary creation in the 1930s.

Third, the controversy of revolutionary literature and the proletarian literary trend of thought with "Left-wing League" as the core.

1. The rise of the proletarian revolutionary literature movement:

The Sun Society, composed of party member writers, founded the monthly Sun, which was presided over by and. Cultural Criticism, hosted by Li, Feng Naichao, a new member of the Creation Society who just returned from Japan, was founded. The Creation Society's Creation Monthly, Volume I, No.8, Mutation, promotes revolutionary literature. These members of the Creation Society and the Sun Society actively advocated the proletarian revolutionary literature movement.

Advocacy: emphasize the class nature and instrumentality of literature, and writers should have proletarian consciousness.

Revolutionary literature: In the early 1920s, Li Dazhao, Deng Zhongxia and Xiao Chunv first raised the issue of "revolutionary literature"; Jiang Guangci and Guo Moruo argued again in 1924 and 1926. At the beginning of 1928, members of the Creation Society and Sun Society launched a revolutionary literature movement in Shanghai and launched a large-scale debate. In the debate, it was proposed that literature should serve the proletarian revolutionary cause, which inspired the literary and artistic work at that time to fight against the Kuomintang. However, they lack accurate analysis of China society and have wrong views on the nature, tasks and objects of the China Revolution. Exaggerate the role of literature; Sectarian sentiment is very strong.

2. Debate on revolutionary literature

Both parties to the dispute: 1928- 1929 Creation Society and Sun Society; Lu Xun and Mao Dun. Lu Xun criticized them for ignoring the characteristics of literature and art, exaggerating the role of literature and art and sectarian tendency, and Mao Dun also criticized them for their narrow theme and slogan tendency. The debate on revolutionary literature has had a positive impact and expanded the influence of revolutionary literature.

3. The establishment and work of left-wing literary and art groups such as the Left League.

1930 The Chinese Left-wing Writers' Union was established in Shanghai, referred to as the Left-wing Writers' Union. More than forty people including Lu Xun, Feng Xuefeng, Shen Duanxian, Feng Naichao and Rou Shi attended the meeting. The main publications are Beidou and Germination. 1936 the left wing was dissolved. The establishment of the "Left League" marked that the * * * production party began to consciously lead literature and art.

The main work after the establishment of the "Left League" (the main contribution of the Left League): the translation, introduction, dissemination and application of Marxist literary theory; Strengthen the connection with world literature, especially with world proletarian literature; Promote the popularization of literature and art; Advocate "new realism".

Main error:

(1) theoretical dogmatism and mechanism;

(2) organizational closure and sectarianism.

Left-wing Writers' Union: short for China's Left-wing Writers' Union, established in Shanghai on March 2, 1930. The main sponsors are Lu Xun, Shen Duanxian and Feng Naichao. Lu Xun made a speech on the left-wing writers' alliance at the inaugural meeting, which is its program. The establishment of "Left-wing Alliance" formed a broad revolutionary literature united front and promoted the rapid development of the left-wing literature movement. Left-wing writers' associations spread Marxist literary theory and launched the movement of literature popularization. Literary creation is very prosperous, and left-wing writers also attach importance to cultivating young writers. Representative writers are: Jiang Guangci, Rou Shi, Yin Fu, Ye Zi, etc. Disadvantages: serious dogmatism in theory, serious tendency of closed-door and sectarianism in organizational work, and serious problems of formulation and conceptualization in literary creation.

The League of Left-wing Dramatists was established. The Chinese Poetry Society was founded in 1932.

(B) Liberal writers' views on literature and art and the opposition between the two major ideological trends

Compared with the revolutionary literary trend of thought, the liberal literary trend of thought emphasizes the independent character of literature and art, and literature is divorced from politics.

1. Representatives of liberal writers' literary views: Liang Shiqiu, Zhu Guangqian, Shen Congwen, etc. Publicly expressing opposition to "art for art's sake" is less decadent and hedonistic, showing some seriousness: serious introspection, serious performance and thinking about social life. Paying attention to the role of literature in remolding the national soul is an inheritance of the literary enlightenment thought in the May 4th period.

① Liang Shiqiu emphasized that literature should have "the backbone of thought" and "moral description".

② Zhu Guangqian emphasized the role of literature in "washing people's hearts" and recreating the national soul. Emphasize the super-utility, independence and the principle of "divorced from reality" of literature, and attach importance to the law of artistic creation.

(3) Shen Congwen hopes that literature can give people "courage and confidence".

The principle of "divorced from reality" emphasized by liberal literary theorists, that is, "the distance between art and real life", has certain positive significance in aesthetics and reflects some laws of artistic creation; However, as a view of literature and art, it is contrary to the mainstream literature that emphasizes realistic criticism and social utility.

2. The opposition between the two major literary trends of thought

1) Debate with "Crescent School": Xu Zhimo, Luo Longji, Hu Shi and Liang Shiqiu. From 1928 to 1930, left-wing writers started a debate with Crescent Moon. The attitude of "New Moon" was published in the first issue of 1928, which put forward the principles of "health" and "dignity" and denied the 13 school which was classified as utilitarianism, aggression, extremism and individualism at that time.

The theory of human nature denies proletarian literature with eternal human literature, opposes class theory with the theory of universal existence of human nature, and denies the theoretical basis of proletarian literature.

Liang Shiqiu, is it a literature class? Hard Translation and Lu Xun's Class Nature of Literature and Class Nature of Literature point out: "Literature can't be lent to people, and it can't show' sex'. Once it employs people, it will never get rid of its class nature and does not need to be bound. "

(2) Genius literature has nothing to do with most people. Liang Shiqiu's Literature and Revolution called left-wing literature "sentimental revolutionism" or "shallow humanitarianism".

Judging from the literary trend of thought, Liang Shiqiu's criticism and judgment are still insightful, and later left-wing literature also reflected on the tendency of "revolutionary romanticism".

2) Debate with "Debate School" about "Soul Literature"

Critics: It is a school of prose in 1930s. The main publications are The Analects of Confucius, The World on Earth, The Wind of the Universe, and mainly publish essays. The magazine claims not to talk about politics, opposes "involving party politics" and advocates humor, leisure and spirit. Writers who have published works in The Analects of Confucius and other publications include Lin Yutang, Zhou Zuoren, Liu Bannong, Yu Pingbo and Lao She. Advocate "self-centered, leisure as the style of writing" and adopt a liberal stance of keeping a distance from politics. Left-wing writers such as Lu Xun accused their works of being "anesthetic works" that paralyze the national soul.

3) Debate with "Beijing School": Beijing School was a literary school in 1930s, and its main members were Zhou Zuoren, Fei Ming, Shen Congwen, Li Jianwu and Zhu Guangqian. It is called "Beijing School" because its authors were engaged in literary activities in Beijing and Tianjin at that time, and their artistic styles were relatively consistent. The main publications are camel grass, Literary Magazine, Literary Quarterly and Literary Supplement of Ta Kung Pao. "Beijing School" pays attention to life, but keeps a distance from political struggle and emphasizes the unique character of art. They emphasize the literary ontology embodied in "pure literary interest", with "harmony", "moderation" and "appropriateness" as the main contents, and their works are full of cultural implications. Beijing writers developed lyric novels and satirical novels, which made the novels poetic, plain, realistic and romantic.

Theoretical characteristics of Beijing School:

① Emphasize the "distance" between literature and times and politics, and pursue humanistic and permanent literary value.

1935 Zhu Guangqian put forward that the beauty of "tranquility" is "the ultimate realm of poetry", the highest realm of beauty and the highest ideal of life philosophy.

(2) Shen Congwen accused the theme, content and style of "sameness" in literary creation, "remembering the times and forgetting the art", and called on writers to break away from the kitsch of literature. Many left-wing writers such as Mao Dun also launched a debate with Shen Congwen.

Lu Xun's criticism of Beijing School. The left wing's criticism of Beijing School is mainly at the political level, and it fails to separate some reasonable elements from the argument of "anachronism".

4) Debate on "literary freedom" (together with "freeman" and "third person")

Nationalist Literature —— The nationalist literature from1930 to 193 1 belongs to the right-wing literature organization of the Kuomintang and has been criticized by Lu Xun and Qu Qiubai.

Free man and the third kind of person: 193 1 to 1932 Hu's argument with left-wing writers. Freeman refers to Hu in Cultural Review, and the third person refers to Modern. Start a literary debate with left-wing writers. The focus of the debate is the class nature of literature and art and the relationship between literature and art and politics. First, Hu published "On the Literature and Art of Dogs", criticizing the fascist nature of nationalist literature and criticizing the left-wing literary world for degenerating art into a political phonograph. Later, he published articles such as "Don't infringe literature and art". The Left League criticized Hu and published articles to support Hu. Lu Xun, Qu Qiubai and Feng Xuefeng published articles respectively, arguing with Su Hu. They criticized the erroneous tendency of Su Hu's literature and art to be divorced from politics and class, and at the same time reviewed the mistakes of "Left" mechanism and left sectarianism, which was an important gain of the debate.

Fourth, the trend and trend of literary creation (literary genre)

The great changes in social history had a great influence on the literature of this period: in the 1930s, under the impact of western industrial civilization, the coastal cities with Shanghai as the center accelerated the modernization of the capitalist model, while the feudal patriarchal clan system (and its lifestyle) in rural areas was shaken. During the May 4th Movement, the ideological revolution turned to the social revolution.

The great social changes in China in 1930s triggered the contradiction and confusion of intellectuals' choice between traditional agricultural civilization and modern industrial civilization, and between eastern civilization and western civilization. In literature, the confrontation and mutual infiltration between the three major literary schools (ideological trends) of "Left Wing", "Beijing School" and "Shanghai School" have been formed.

1. Three major literary schools

(1) Shanghai School's ambivalence of nostalgia and disillusionment with urban civilization, and its more conscious pioneer consciousness.

② Beijing School pursues the independence and freedom of literature and opposes politics and commercialization.

(3) The left demands that literature consciously become a tool of proletarian struggle.

2. Similarities and differences of literature in this period.

(1) The theme of literary creation is unprecedented in scale and novel in expression angle. A large number of works have shown personal progress towards society. As literature moves from family to street, "the semi-colonization of China society" has become the focus of writers' attention. Among them, the writer writes about the historical fate and psychological, moral and emotional changes of all social strata (farmers, workers, urban petty bourgeoisie, ordinary citizens, national capitalists, etc.). ) In the process of urban and rural capitalism in China.

Literary form: In the narrative era and the development of novellas, many excellent works appeared, such as Midnight, Home, Camel Xiangzi, Border Town, Thunderstorm and Sunrise.

③ Artistic expression: the shaping of typical environment and typical characters.

Writers have formed their own artistic world. Paying attention to psychological characterization and unifying social structure analysis and psychological structure analysis are important characteristics of psychological characterization in this period.

⑤ The formation of personal style, national style and aesthetic characteristics of the times. The historical characteristics of literature in this period are: broad social and historical content, historical depth of exploring national soul, fighting passion and magnificent and solid beauty drawn from historical trends.