Searching for the Original Text of Shen Yanbing's Literature and Life

Today is about literature and life. People in China have always believed that literature is not what ordinary people need. Only those who enjoy themselves in leisure and love can talk about literature. China has always had a large number of literary works, poems, characters and novels. But there are few books about what literature is, what literature is about, how to read literature books and how to criticize literature. Liu Xie's Wen Xin Diao Long can be regarded as a book devoted to literature, but this is not because he didn't talk about what literature is and so on. He only uses subjective opinions to define various constitutions in literature. What is poetry and what is fu? He only gave a subjective definition, but did not analyze the research works. Si Kongtu's "Poetry" did not talk about the question "What does poetry contain". From all aspects, there are many literary works, but few papers on literary works. So there is no clear boundary between literature and other aspects, such as philosophy and language. Most people who talk about literature criticize the revision of words and do not attach importance to ideas. As for the relationship between literature and other kinds of knowledge, there is no mention. So to talk about this topic, there is almost no reference material in China's book. Now we can only talk about some westerners' comments on literature, and then discuss whether China's literature has anything to do with life.

The slogan that western literary scholars often talk about is: "Literature is a reflection of life", and literature reflects all kinds of things, no matter how people live and what society is like. For example, life is a cup, and literature is its shadow in the mirror. So we can say: "The background of literature is social." "Background" is where it originated. For example, there is a novel about a family getting rich first and then declining, so we have to ask which period it is about. If it is said that it was during the Qianlong period in the Qing Dynasty, do we think what he said was like during the Qianlong period? Just look like it. The above two sentences are very common. From these two sentences, we can probably know what literature is. Of course, literature transcends life and stresses the ideal world. That kind of literature is really good, but it is not social. Now we talk about the relationship between literature and life, but it is not enough to explain "society". We can talk about it from the following four aspects.

Since literature is life-oriented, the life recorded by literature is of course like taking a mirror to reflect life. The starting point, or foundation, or even material of literary works actually exists in a certain social background. Society is made up of all kinds of life. The characteristics of life are reflected in literature, which makes literature have a developing history and various forms. People usually have a creative ability beyond what they see and hear. As long as such creation is extraordinary, or advanced, representative and predictable, it is valuable. There are also such literary works, and some writers have created them. As for the relationship between literature and life, Mr. Mao Dun analyzed it from four angles, namely "race", "environment", "times" and "personality".

(1) race. Literature has a lot to do with race. Different races have different moods in literature. What kind of people, what kind of literature, and they have different skin, hair, eyes and so on. Generally speaking, a race always has its own characteristics, and the oriental peoples are full of mystery, so their literature is also surreal. The nature of a nation is also related to literature. Teutonic people are hard-working and have the nature of moderation, so is their literature. They just write love novels, and when it comes to painful results, they are never as enthusiastic as the French. French writers describe characters and write about their feelings with great enthusiasm. If a person is bored and wants to drink some wine, in England, he only needs to drink some beer, but the legal person must drink strong brandy. This analogy between Britain and France can be used as a comparison. This literary difference is obvious.

Racial formation is a long and bumpy process. This is nonsense, a bit verbose.

Different races are not only different in the superficial meaning of different skin colors, but also different in emotional cognition. In more modern terms, there are differences in spiritual consciousness, not only between different races, but also between the same species. Regional differences will inevitably lead to differences in literary sentiments of different ethnic groups, which can be understood as how to define the differences between different ethnic groups in the world ruled by long-term feudal system. So different races have different literature, which is also a phenomenon. Perhaps this difference will disappear in the future literary development.

(2) the environment. We live here and have everything around us. Suppose we are from Songjiang, and the society in Songjiang is our environment. What kind of family I have and how many friends I have ... are all my environment. The environment has a great influence on literature. Shanghainese always mention the situation in Shanghai in their works: people engaged in revolution always speak in the spirit of revolution; Born in a rich family, although he is keen on populism, he sometimes has a childlike spirit. There is an environment in an era, and there is literature in that era. Environment is not limited to matter. The ideological trend, political situation and customs at that time were all the environment of that era. The author is influenced by his environment everywhere and can never be independent of it. Even a mysterious poet who explores the mysteries of the universe, his works may have nothing to do with his environment-that is, he does not mention his environment, but the ideas in his works must be related to his environment. Even if there is a trend of thought against his time, it still matters, because his "opposition" was stabbed by the trend of thought at that time and never jumped out of thin air. As for positive examples, there are countless in the history of literature. For example, France has produced a group of great writers, such as George Schengen. They saw the second revolution and restoration in France, so they all described the characters in the environment of that time in France. Although Shente fled to foreign countries for revolutionary ideas, his works are always inseparable from the colors of the French era. For example, when we were in Shanghai, we met trams and cars, and most of them were intellectuals. For example, when writing a novel, don't write about life in the mountains or countryside without the environment. The idyllic poems of British poet Burns are now said to be so good, beautiful and calm. /kloc-At the end of 0/9th century, some writers wrote about Du Hui, and some people said it was depravity. This is all due to the environment. For another example, at the end of19th century, many Germans were tired of urban life and went to describe the countryside, but their homesickness was clear at a glance. This is the opposite example. It can be seen that environment and literature are closely related. If you are not in an environment, you must not write about that environment. In that environment, you must not jump out of that environment to describe other species. Some people say that the scope of China's recent novels is too narrow. Love is limited to middle school boys and girls. Talking about family is just a trivial matter, and talking about human nature is just for rickshaw drivers to play. This is not to say that China people can't do better. Now is really a writer's environment. The writer wants to write about social life, but he can't see rickshaw pullers hitting people. How can he write anything else?

(3) the times. This word is either poorly translated. The English name Epoch contains the ideological trend of the times and social conditions. Or times, closer. Now everyone knows that there is a saying called "the spirit of the times". The spirit of the times dominates politics, philosophy, literature and fine arts. , but also shadows and shapes. The left wing of writers in different times has different characteristics, which is caused by the spirit of the times; Writers in the same era have a tendency of convergence, which is also caused by the spirit of the times. There are exceptions, but it is always the case. We often hear people say that the Han Dynasty has its own style of writing, and the Wei and Jin Dynasties have their own style of writing ... because the Han Dynasty has its own spirit of the times, and the Wei and Jin Dynasties have their own spirit of the times. Modern western literature is realistic because the spirit of modern times is scientific. The scientific spirit focuses on seeking truth, so the only purpose of literature and art is seeking truth. Scientists attach importance to objective observation, so literature also attaches importance to objective description. Because of seeking truth and emphasizing objective description, how to write what you see in your eyes. Out of respect for personality, everyone thinks it is all special or bad, so we should not ignore it because of people. Speak your mind, honestly, and don't cheat others. This is an example of modern spirit in literature and art.

(4) the writer's personality. The writer's personality is also very important. A revolutionary should be a revolutionary literature, love nature and integrate nature into his literature. Russian Tolstoy's strong and unique personality is also reflected in his literary works. A great writer's works, even if influenced by the environment of the times, always have his personality melted in them. French Anatole France said: "Literature, strictly speaking, is the autobiography of a writer." ..... that's what it means.

If there is no subjective progress, no subjective transformation and no subjective thinking in creation, what skeleton is there? Nonsense is the beginning of vulgarity. Perhaps the reason why great writers succeed is that they have moral and spiritual strength beyond the average person. The quality of literary works reflects a person's mental outlook. On the other hand, if a writer has strict moral cultivation and a correct attitude towards life, his literary works will be good.

The above is the discussion of westerners. Although there has never been such a discussion in ancient China, we can see that China literature is also based on these four items. First, China literature expresses the temperament of China people: they don't like reality, talk about metaphysics and compromise. China's novels, whether good or bad, have a happy ending: this is evidence that we don't go to extremes. As for race, it can be said that there is no violation. Second, the environment is more natural. The environment of China literature is naturally China's family society. Third, it seems that the relationship between the times is not very clear in China. But if you look closely, there are some. People who talk about old literature say: both are fu, and the Han dynasty is different from Wei and Jin dynasties; These two poems are different in the early Tang Dynasty, the prosperous Tang Dynasty and the late Tang Dynasty. No matter which one of Li Yishan's poems is, it must not be among the four outstanding poets in the early Tang Dynasty. Their poems are all composed of several words and talk about meter, but their works are very different because of different times. The characters in Shi Shuo Xin Yu are different from other books in syntax and style, and so are Quotations of Song People, Outlaws of the Marsh and the Legacy of Xuanhe. This can be said to be because the air of the times is different. They not only have different ideas, but also have different styles and rules. It can be seen that the influence of the times is also very strong As for personality, a true writer does not cheat the world and steal fame, but also has personality in his works. Therefore, the four relationships between literature and life are no exception in China.

The development direction of China literature is consistent with that of western literature to some extent, and the creative experiences of many writers are similar, all of which come from understanding, recording, analyzing and reforming life. Therefore, western scholars' understanding of the relationship between literature and life is also suitable for the actual situation of China's literary creation in a certain sense. In this passage, Mr. Mao Dun used the demonstration method of examples, which is a method that can increase the argument basis for the article and make people feel more credible when writing.

A simple explanation of literature and life, but that's all. We have learned a lesson from this, that is, anyone who wants to study literature should at least have the common sense of ethnology, at least understand the environment when this literary work was produced, at least understand the spirit of the times when this literary work was produced, and understand the life experience and mood of its owner.