Chapter from the book: Helgesson, S et al. 2018. World Literatures: Exploring the Cosmopolitan-Vernacular Exchange.
In this chapter, the author traces some influential voices of reformists/writers in manifests calling for fiction written in the vernacular, by the early reformist Liang Qichao, and by reformists within the New Culture Movement, such as Hu Shi, Chen Duxiu and Lu Xun, who promoted “modern” Chinese literature written in the vernacular. The aim is to show how their reformist discourse on language and literature is embodied in and confronts traditional values within a work of fiction, Lu Xun’s short story A Madman’s Diary, how this literary work manifests the “power struggle” between the “traditional” classical, literary language and the “modern” written vernacular in China in the early twentieth century.
Rydholm, L. 2018. Reformist Discourses: Classical Literary Language Versus Modern Written Vernacular in Lu Xun’s Short Story “A Madman’s Diary”. In: Helgesson, S et al (eds.), World Literatures. Stockholm: Stockholm University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.16993/bat.g
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Published on Nov. 22, 2018