one question

In recent years, in-depth research on Shanghai-style literature and popular literature has given us a new understanding of Chinese literature in the 20th century.

These two literary forms have been excluded and obscured intentionally or unintentionally for a long time, and have not been seen in the writings of literary historians.

Now we know that non-mainstream literature is not without vitality.

The Mandarin Duck and Butterfly School, which was severely criticized verbally and writtenly by the new writers of the May 4th Movement, did not disappear in the 1920s, but grew in number. This is supported by data.

(Note: According to relevant statistics from the "Popular Periodicals", Part 7 of "History of Modern Chinese Popular Literature" edited by Fan Boqun (written by Tang Zhesheng), there were 51 kinds of Mandarin Duck and Butterfly journals founded from 1921 to 1929 alone.

Among them, the famous ones, such as "Half Moon", "Saturday" (reissued), "Red Magazine", "Red Rose", "Novel World", "Detective World", etc.), Shanghai style went to the isolated island and occupied environment of Shanghai in the 1940s.

, when left-wing writers and their readers moved to the rear one after another, it reached its peak, and gradually converged with the Mandarin Duck and Butterfly School, which had significantly enhanced modernity.

Zhang Ailing is a true representative.

As for the "resurrection" of Shanghai-style and popular literature in today's Chinese literary world, there is no doubt that it is obvious to all.

As a result, some people in the academic community have proposed the goal of writing a "big literary history" in which pure literature and popular literature fly together.

This, of course, refers to the situation in which literary history in the past strictly rejected popular writers, and at best classified history into how popular literature "surrendered" to pure literature and elegant literature.

(Note: Zhang Henshui, a master of popular literature, is generally interpreted as gradually "surrendering" to new literature.) If the term "big literary history" is discussed in the future, it is estimated that it will cause useful controversy.

For example, I personally believe that in the history of modern literature, the renewal of literary concepts, the rise and fall of experimental and avant-garde creations, and the continuous exploration of forms are all purely literary matters.

This cannot but determine the direction of literary history.

Popular literature is not just the Mandarin Duck and Butterfly School. It should also include part of the Shanghai School, part of the literature of the liberated areas, plus all kinds of popular literature.

Even in terms of the Mandarin Duck and Butterfly School, its main function and contribution is to promote literature to the market and to the public, and has accumulated some experience in gradually adjusting (improving) traditional literature into modern literature.

But after all, in terms of the role of literary development, it cannot be said that they can be completely equal.

Although the literary history assumption of the juxtaposition of two literatures can be questioned, it can stimulate imagination and thinking.

The Shanghai School in pure literature has been closely related to the urban cultural environment from the day it emerged, and is also closest to popular literature (according to Lu Xun and Shen Congwen, the Mandarin Duck and Butterfly School is the Shanghai School, or Zhang Ziping is simply the Shanghai School).

They are the remnants of the Mandarin Duck and Butterfly School, etc. (Note: Lu Xun’s articles on the Shanghai School and Zhang Ziping can be found in "A Glimpse of Shanghai Literature and Art", "Zhang Ziping's "Novelology"", etc., included in "Two Hearts Collection". Shen Congwen talked about the Shanghai School and Zhang Ziping

His articles "On Chinese Creative Novels", "On "Shanghai School"", "About Shanghai School", etc. are included in "Collected Works of Shen Congwen" Volume 11 and Volume 12 respectively, Huacheng Publishing House, July 1984 edition)).

, if we want to write a literary history in which pure literature and popular literature coexist and penetrate each other for a long time, it is necessary to distinguish the Mandarin Duck and Butterfly School in modern popular literature from the Shanghai School, which is mainly pure literature, and clearly explain the differences between the two.

Relationships should also be a cutting-edge issue that cannot be ignored.

1. The relationship between Mandarin Duck and Butterfly School literature and Shanghai School literature is not about origin and flow.

Just like the old literature of the Republic of China could not naturally transition into the new literature, the Mandarin Duck and Butterfly School could not naturally extend to the overseas school.

This can be exemplified by novels.

Among the old novels of the Republic of China, novels about mandarin ducks and butterflies were the most influential.

After carefully searching for the germination of modernity in recent years, this school of novels has roughly identified the following aspects: first, it has a certain progressive consciousness of exposing the evils of feudal ethics; second, it has learned some foreign literary techniques, not

Completely closed; thirdly, the literary language has been greatly improved, using modern classical Chinese that has been loosened and can transition to vernacular.

With these three conditions of modern elements, the novels of the Mandarin Duck and Butterfly School have not been able to accumulate and self-adjust into new literature. A very important reason is the conservatism of its cultural attitude.

The novels of the Mandarin Duck and Butterfly school are unwilling to completely break with the novels of the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Their concept is such that after making some changes, they still follow the old track.

The parallel-style novel "The Soul of Jade Pear", known as the "grandfather" of the Mandarin Duck and Butterfly school of novels, seems to be anything but popular now. It bridges the gap between the classical poetry tradition and Lin (Shu)'s translated novels, and has been praised by literati readers with old memories.

"Last" welcome, and then it has been flowing towards the popular reading tendency of conservative citizens.

The "May Fourth" novels are the result of a complete transplantation of Western novels.

Although once it was established, the internal mechanism of "tradition" was faintly revealed, it never looked "backwards" and directly cultivated its own new readers and emerging markets, and entered the ranks of modern novels.