Lu Xun and Hu Shih: Two outlooks on the development of modern Chinese literature

Abstract

The aim of the study is to substantiate the thesis that the reason for the ideological confrontation between Lu Xun and Hu Shih, two of the most important figures of the literary process in China in the first quarter of the XX century, was their polar opposite views on the vector of development of new literature in China. The paper analyzes the critical and journalistic publications of Lu Xun and Hu Shih, which makes it possible to assess the writers’ standpoint on the conceptual issues of the creation of modern literature. It is explained that the vagueness of Hu Shih’s political platform was the reason for sharp criticism from Lu Xun. The study is novel in that it is the first in Russian sinology to carry out a comparative analysis of the literary and ideological views of the writers who defined the constants of modern Chinese literature. As a result, it has been proved that the difference of ideas about the role of Chinese literature as the most important factor of social development, the assessment of the ratio of traditionalist and innovative views on its evolution, as well as the divergence in understanding of political events in the country led to mutual alienation of the two important figures of the literary process in China in the 1920s-1930s.

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About this article

Publication history

• Received: August 1, 2023.
• Published: September 8, 2023.

Keywords

• новейшая литература Китая
• Лу Синь
• Ху Ши
• полемика
• традиционализм и новаторство
• new literature of China
• Lu Xun
• Hu Shih
• polemic
• traditionalism and innovation

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