What is the theme of Lu Xun's work "Scream"?

Lu Xun's collection of novels "Scream" and "Wandering" is the foundation stone and classic of China's modern vernacular novels. They achieved a revolutionary breakthrough in traditional novels and completed the artistic transformation of modern novels. Without Lu Xun's contribution, our novels today would not be so prosperous and innovative.

achievements of art

First, the breakthrough and deepening of the theme.

Traditional novels pay attention to the plot, pursue the integrity and legend of the story, and the narrative object is either the all-powerful emperors and princes or the talented people who gathered and left, forming a unique theme mode of the old novels. Facing the bleak gray life, Scream and Wandering turned to write ordinary things of ordinary people and portray the soul of "children of old China", which made a new breakthrough in subject matter.

Second, the modern transformation of narrative mode

Different from the traditional novels, which have a beginning and an end, and the plots are interlocking and unfolding in turn, Lu Xun's novels are flexible and ingenious in narrative methods. The pioneer of creating new forms consciously borrowed from western novel forms and established a new model of China's modern novels through the exertion and transformation of genius. There are more than ten novels in Scream, and almost every novel has a new form, which is mainly related to the narrative art of the novel. Lu Xun consciously developed the complex art of the novel narrator.

Third, symbolic meaning.

During the May 4th Movement, social realism novels were the mainstay, and self-expression and self-disclosure novels were also popular for some time, which played a great role in the transformation of national soul and the liberation of personality, but they were not as profound in artistic expression as Scream and Hesitation. It can be said that the two collections of novels "Scream" and "Wandering" have laid a realistic tradition in the new literature, and this realism is open, mainly realistic, and combines various means of expression, especially "symbolism", which makes the works have strong symbolic color and meaning. The use of symbols enhances the literariness of realistic literature, which has the artistic effect of being close at hand and far away, and has endless aftertaste.

Fourth, language features.

Lu Xun's writing is sharp and alert, sometimes to the degree of "cleanliness". He takes profound social experience and powerful ideological energy as the essence, and is full of internal force and vigor. But sometimes in order to create a rough effect, we don't mean complicated and lengthy expressions. Generally speaking, as Li Changzhi said, leisure is the unique advantage of Lu Xun's novels.

In a word, as the representative works of China's novel modernization, the two collections of novels, Scream and Wandering, have played a great role in the process of China's novel modernization and occupied an irreplaceable position in the history of modern literature in China.