SHEN CONGWEN AND THE MODERNITY OF 20TH CENTURY CHINESE LITERATURE

The essential characteristic is, for modernity of 20th century Chinese literature, to pursuit of subject’s freedom and natural existence of mankind. SHEN Congwen is the first writer making profound introspective into China’s modern process of civilization. His novels possess “a modernity against modern civilization”, and his “novel spirit” consists in “antagonizing the existence being forgotten”. It shows at five aspects: the maintenance of “the solemn of life”; the history manner of holding “morality” to occupy “change”; the contradictory narrating model of city and village; the life Concept of accepting perceptual and detesting rational. By means of the novel creation, SHEN Congwen wish to “rescue the world” and “rescue himself”.