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When "feminism" is gradually becoming a label overused and the words "gender consciousness" and "female image" in literature are overly interpreted, a research works focusing on feminism was published by the East China Normal University Press in 2013. It breaks through theory trends and makes a new interpretation about feminism. The book, written by GuoBingru, the professor of Sun Yat-Sen University, titled Gender Construction of History of the Chinese Fiction in the 20th Century, discusses the origin, development and transformation process of feminine writing based on the gender construction of modern female with the frame of the 20th century's history of Chinese fictions. The book breaks through the general research paradigm of "theory + text"; it studies the dissemination and application of literature-related phenomenon and western feminism in China in several aspects including politics, history and culture.We can say that the book is characterized with highlighting materials by questioning and highlighting history by ideology.
Gender Construction of History of the Chinese Fiction in the 20th Century demonstrates us a grand and wide, tortuousbut profound history of femme "gender construction" from "appearance of gender" during the May Fourth Period to "gender-crossing" during the revolutionary war period to "retirement of gender" under the words domination during "socialist revolution" and to "reconstruction of gender" during "ideological emancipation". "Feminism" is always the basic theory and angle of view of the book; however, what the author tries to explain is not that feminine writing in the 20th century verified the theory of feminism to some extent or makes the interpretation of feminine text descending to a note of the theory of feminism. In addition, the western theory of feminism literary and art criticism may not apply to the Chinese context and text of modern feminine writing. Therefore, in the last chapter, the author completely sorts out the Chinese track of feminism criticism and criticizes the academic current situation and its limitedness of interpreting blindly the feminine writing research with feminism.
What does "sympathetic understanding" and "profound observation" of the object of study refer to by GuoBingru?-"the book aims at demonstrating the complexity and richness of feminine writing", or "instead of discussing modern feminine writing, rather, it is discussing about issues related to feminine gender construction". The author shows a strong interest in the influence of feminine life on feminine writing from the part of foreword. With the help of the precious historical materials including the magazine Liangyou, the report Shanghai Factory Labor Statistics, oral history Let Women Talk for Themselves-Experienced War, the author's "outer horizon" of fiction context and history context is broadened more widely. The author concludes that with the change of concepts such as family life, marital status, career and moral principles, female characters in fictions of the 20th century went through the transformation from "the mother of the nation" to "Nala" running away, "clever wife and wise mother" to "workwoman" in groups. In fact, not only artistic images, but also Chinese female including "literature female" such as female writers, scholars, and editors went through such transformations under the different context of ideology and culture and political history in the 20th century. The third chapter of the book takes Ding Ling, Xiao Hong and Eileen Chang as examples, and combines with their life experiences, value judgement and artistic choices to make a wonderful comparison with individuals and images of a group of characters. Although relevant researches on female literature and feminine writing in the book focus on feminism, they differ from "technical" analysis" and "theoretical" experiment. The book neither is confined by the principle of "scientific principle or law" and standardability from reality nor ignores readers' expectation due to obscurity and pedantry. On the contrary, the theory research and academic argument attract readers who are literature readers and professional literary researchers at the same time with the "richness and complexity" beyond "gender construction" during its observation on social habits, cultural psychology and political ideology. In this sense, instead of a history of fiction research or feminism works, the book is rather a history of Chinese modern agitation depicted through female literary images, feminine literature and literature females. However, studying modern literature by breaking through traditional academic path and inter- disciplinarily is not new anymore. Its overly manoeuvring cultural horizon and arbitrary standpoint grabbing the history always send certain ontology research to a "rootless" dilemma. GuoBingru starts from the fictions of the 20th century and Chinese artistic female images. After understanding the changes of female lifestyle, aesthetic taste and chastity view with the help of historical materials, the author does not linger to different kinds of "politics" and "history"; instead, she returns to literary text and "literature" of Chinese fictions of the 20th century. "Concept and theory can only be a kind of ideological trend. They can't be the living arrangement of women. It can influence feminist consciousness, but it can't design their life." Based on the logic of "depart-return-depart again-return again" which takes "literature" as its origin, the author grasps modestly the details of text and macro world by virtue of her understanding of historical materials and ideology and forms the basic though for analyzing Chinese modern feminine writing, and establishes a unique dynamic system "highlighting materials by questioning and highlighting history by thoughts" for the book.
"I am a dragonfly flying up and down in the fragrance of books." GuoBingru describes herself and devotes to academic researches. With the book, we have the opportunity to appreciate the author's beautiful structure of "flaying up and down" again. There is no swift and fierce argument or reading methods overturning outmoded conventions. What the book has is question how "feminine writing" influences "gender construction" and review of the development of western feminism in the Chinese context, as well as critical introspection of "limitation of book" and "mental dilemma".
Wide and flexible research field, double arguments with historical materials and ideology and the "pace-up-and-down" academic structure all make the writing of the book a "long mental travel", which is abundant, rich and splendid.
Gender Construction of History of the Chinese Fiction in the 20th Century demonstrates us a grand and wide, tortuousbut profound history of femme "gender construction" from "appearance of gender" during the May Fourth Period to "gender-crossing" during the revolutionary war period to "retirement of gender" under the words domination during "socialist revolution" and to "reconstruction of gender" during "ideological emancipation". "Feminism" is always the basic theory and angle of view of the book; however, what the author tries to explain is not that feminine writing in the 20th century verified the theory of feminism to some extent or makes the interpretation of feminine text descending to a note of the theory of feminism. In addition, the western theory of feminism literary and art criticism may not apply to the Chinese context and text of modern feminine writing. Therefore, in the last chapter, the author completely sorts out the Chinese track of feminism criticism and criticizes the academic current situation and its limitedness of interpreting blindly the feminine writing research with feminism.
What does "sympathetic understanding" and "profound observation" of the object of study refer to by GuoBingru?-"the book aims at demonstrating the complexity and richness of feminine writing", or "instead of discussing modern feminine writing, rather, it is discussing about issues related to feminine gender construction". The author shows a strong interest in the influence of feminine life on feminine writing from the part of foreword. With the help of the precious historical materials including the magazine Liangyou, the report Shanghai Factory Labor Statistics, oral history Let Women Talk for Themselves-Experienced War, the author's "outer horizon" of fiction context and history context is broadened more widely. The author concludes that with the change of concepts such as family life, marital status, career and moral principles, female characters in fictions of the 20th century went through the transformation from "the mother of the nation" to "Nala" running away, "clever wife and wise mother" to "workwoman" in groups. In fact, not only artistic images, but also Chinese female including "literature female" such as female writers, scholars, and editors went through such transformations under the different context of ideology and culture and political history in the 20th century. The third chapter of the book takes Ding Ling, Xiao Hong and Eileen Chang as examples, and combines with their life experiences, value judgement and artistic choices to make a wonderful comparison with individuals and images of a group of characters. Although relevant researches on female literature and feminine writing in the book focus on feminism, they differ from "technical" analysis" and "theoretical" experiment. The book neither is confined by the principle of "scientific principle or law" and standardability from reality nor ignores readers' expectation due to obscurity and pedantry. On the contrary, the theory research and academic argument attract readers who are literature readers and professional literary researchers at the same time with the "richness and complexity" beyond "gender construction" during its observation on social habits, cultural psychology and political ideology. In this sense, instead of a history of fiction research or feminism works, the book is rather a history of Chinese modern agitation depicted through female literary images, feminine literature and literature females. However, studying modern literature by breaking through traditional academic path and inter- disciplinarily is not new anymore. Its overly manoeuvring cultural horizon and arbitrary standpoint grabbing the history always send certain ontology research to a "rootless" dilemma. GuoBingru starts from the fictions of the 20th century and Chinese artistic female images. After understanding the changes of female lifestyle, aesthetic taste and chastity view with the help of historical materials, the author does not linger to different kinds of "politics" and "history"; instead, she returns to literary text and "literature" of Chinese fictions of the 20th century. "Concept and theory can only be a kind of ideological trend. They can't be the living arrangement of women. It can influence feminist consciousness, but it can't design their life." Based on the logic of "depart-return-depart again-return again" which takes "literature" as its origin, the author grasps modestly the details of text and macro world by virtue of her understanding of historical materials and ideology and forms the basic though for analyzing Chinese modern feminine writing, and establishes a unique dynamic system "highlighting materials by questioning and highlighting history by thoughts" for the book.
"I am a dragonfly flying up and down in the fragrance of books." GuoBingru describes herself and devotes to academic researches. With the book, we have the opportunity to appreciate the author's beautiful structure of "flaying up and down" again. There is no swift and fierce argument or reading methods overturning outmoded conventions. What the book has is question how "feminine writing" influences "gender construction" and review of the development of western feminism in the Chinese context, as well as critical introspection of "limitation of book" and "mental dilemma".
Wide and flexible research field, double arguments with historical materials and ideology and the "pace-up-and-down" academic structure all make the writing of the book a "long mental travel", which is abundant, rich and splendid.