What Have Chinese Contemporary Writers Obtained from the Practice of Writing Novels in the Genre of Stream of Consciousness?——A Study of the “Free Association of Ideas” Concerning Novels in the 1980s

The stream of consciousness is the first western technique of expression used in the literary world in the new era of China. It mainly consists of such elements as one’s psychological structure, inner monologue, free asso ciation of ideas and impressions based on one’s feelings. One’s free association of ideas refers to the fancy of the things that have no direct association and embodies the reality of one’s soul in a complicated, disorder, casual and leap way. It also emphasizes one’s different feelings in one’s stream of consciousness. Chinese writers in the new era are more rational while making use of free association of ideas. Their novels are usually within the same frame work and the contents are relatively simple. It was not until the middle of 1980s that one could read minute descriptions and richness in Chinese writers’ novels which triggered off the natural revelation of irrational conscious ness. The process in which strong subjectivity evolved into objectivity was similar to the research method of novels of stream of consciousness in the west. It is through making use of the stream of consciousness that Chinese contemporary novels have begun to purposefully analyze and expound the innermost feelings of the characters in the novels. As a result, the novels of stream of consciousness have begun to gain publicity in China.