【现当代文学史论文】《TheCulturalConnotationsoftheRusticFictionofthe1930s》.docVIP

The Cultural Connotations of the Rustic Fiction of the 1930s Zhu Xiaojin This aricle thematically deals with the cultural connotations of the rustic fiction (xiangtu xiaoshuo) of the 1930s from four aspects. In the first section Iexamine the cultural connotations of the theme of land, and the literary theme of the relationship of the peasants to the land. In the second section I look at the spiritual refuge provided by rustic literature. In the third section I turn to discuss the consciousness of nature and life expressed in rustic literature, and in the fourth I examine the cultural significance of folklore in rustic fiction. I. The Cultural Connotations of Land In the rustic fiction of the 1930s, we can clearly discern how changes in rural land relations brought genuine sorrow to Chinas countryside. Peasants who had once been contented land owners lost their faith in the land and universal unrest resulted from these changes. The extraordinary natural disasters in the 1930s and the onslaught of capital- ist civilization on the natural economy fundamentally shook the rural peace. Much fiction depicted the nationwide natural disasters of the period and the predicament confronting villagers because of crop failures. Examples are Kuang Lus Floods (Shuizai), Jiang Muliangs Relief Rice (Zhenmi) and Drought (Han), Huang Meis Victims of Natural Calamities (Zainan de renqun), Lu Yans Byroads (Chalu), and Ding Lings Water (Shui). Poor harvests, and even good harvests, could occasion disaster in the countryside. The rustic fiction of the 1930s was also sensitive to this lopsided social phenomena, as is evidenced by Spring Silkworms (Chuncan) and Autumn Harvest (Qiushou) by Mao Dun, Harvest (Fengshou) by Ye Zi, A Better Harvest (Duo shoule sanwu dou) by Ye Shengtao, Gao Dingxiang by Jiang Muliang, and Autumn (Qiu) by Huang Mei. Not only Left-wing writers, but even the editor of Modern (Shidai) magazine in an