The historical tradition of combining realism and romanticism
Realism and romanticism, as two basic creative methods in the history of literature, each have their own characteristics and strengths. They reflect social life from different angles and in different ways, resulting in the emergence of many works with different characteristics, styles and tones in ancient literature, enriching the treasure house of literature and satisfying people's diverse needs for artistic appreciation.
In the history of literary development, although realism and romanticism are two different creative methods, they are often connected and combined, and they are not unrelated to each other, nor are they mutually exclusive or different. Compatible.
In an era when the reactionary exploiting class dominates, there is a contradiction between the people's progressive ideals and the dark social reality. Many writers cannot find the social power and correctness to realize their ideals in life. Therefore, when they reflect life, they often either focus on exposing the darkness of reality, or they "would rather abandon reality for fantasy and dreams"①. This is the social and historical reason for the formation of two different creative methods of realism and romanticism. However, it should also be noted that in terms of the overall process of historical development, ideal and reality are unified in opposition. Even in the old times, the dark reality itself aroused the people's desire for beautiful ideals, and the ideals in turn guided and inspired the people to participate in the struggle to change reality, and this struggle realized the people's ideals to varying degrees. . Without ideals, there would be no struggle to change reality, and there would be no real revolutionary practice to push society forward. Therefore, reality and ideals are often unified in the people's revolutionary practice. This is the basis for reality that realism and romanticism are often associated with. In the old society, although there were many writers who were far away from the people's struggles, there were also many writers who were affected by the people's struggles to varying degrees and used their works to reflect this struggle or express the people's sentiments to varying degrees. The demands and desires of the masses to change the status quo. In the history of literature, many works that reflect the people's struggles and aspirations often combine realism and romanticism to varying degrees. This is true for the "Shuo Mouse" in my country's "Book of Songs", the Yuefu folk song "The Peacock Flies Southeast", the opera "Dou E's Injustice", "The Peony Pavilion", etc. There are many folklores, such as the story of the Yang family generals, the story of Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai, the story of the White Snake, etc., all of which have the spirit of combining realism and romanticism. Especially in times when social revolutionary movements are on the rise, such as the European Renaissance, the Enlightenment and the Bourgeois Revolution, or the "May Fourth" era in my country, realism and romanticism are often closely linked in literature at that time. At the same time, the creations of writers who were involved in the whirlpool of revolution or were impacted by the revolutionary wave often combined realism and romanticism. This was true of Pushkin in Russia and later revolutionary democratic writers, and it was also true of Lu Xun and Guo Moruo in my country.
From a writer’s subjective point of view, no progressive writer has no ideals. Whether it is Qu Yuan, Li Bai, Guan Hanqing, Tang Xianzu, Wu Chengen, or Du Fu, Bai Juyi, Kong Shangren, Cao Xueqin, etc., judging from their positive and serious attitude towards society, they can be said to be realists. From their dissatisfaction with ideals, Judging from their tired pursuit, it can be said that they are all idealists. In terms of creative methods, some writers, as mentioned before, either focus on depicting typical pictures of real life, or focus on passionate praise of ideals. But there are also some writers who blend typical pictures of reality and ideal realm into the same work. This combination may not be organic yet. But it cannot be denied that there are some works that combine quite well. For example, "The Injustice of Dou E" and "The Peony Pavilion" are examples of good combinations of realism and romanticism in Chinese classical literature. In the long history of literature, there are many writers and works that are indeed difficult to simply fall within the scope of realism or romanticism. As Gorky said, there are many great writers in history. "It is difficult for us to say exactly what he said - are they romantics or realists? In the great artists, realism and romanticism are like They are always united.”①. Gorky further clearly affirmed: “This fusion of romanticism and realism is a prominent feature of our country’s excellent literature, which gives our literature the originality and power that increasingly clearly and profoundly affects literature around the world. ” ② Not only is Gorky’s view like this, Schiller’s article “On Naive Poetry and Sentimental Poetry” mentioned earlier also mentioned: Only when na?ve poetry and sentimental poetry are closely combined can a consistent poem be produced. Works of "true standards of beauty". ①The above examples show that the combination of realism and romanticism to some extent is not unique in the history of Chinese and foreign literature. In other words, there are many excellent works in history that often combine realism and romanticism to varying degrees. Of course, in most cases. The creative methods used in literary works all have different emphasis, such as some focusing on realism and some focusing on romanticism. This situation is closely related to the era in which the writers live, their personal life experiences, creative personality and style, as well as the themes and genres they choose. The reasons are multifaceted and need to be analyzed in detail.
Many writers and critics in ancient my country have done a lot of research and exploration on the intersection or combination of realism and romanticism in literary history. Their discussions on issues such as fiction and reality in literary creation are very enlightening for our understanding of the combination of realism and romanticism. Critics in ancient my country often used "virtual" and "real" to express two different methods and styles, with Li Bai and Du Fu as representatives respectively. Many outstanding writers and critics have realized that fiction and reality can and should be combined. Both Li Bai and Du Fu can combine fiction and reality, and combine fiction and reality. Tu Long of the Ming Dynasty said: "Gu's poems have some virtuality and reality, some virtuality and reality, some reality and reality, some virtuality and reality, and some reality and reality. How can there be any clue that they go hand in hand? It's true on the right and false on the left, so it's called Li Du's distinction between fiction and reality, what is the difference? ② It can be said that the author has come into contact with the issue of the close connection between the two different creative methods of realism and romanticism, although he did not use realism and romanticism. Words like ism. Regarding the inseparable relationship between ideals and reality, Wang Guowei in modern times also put forward a saying: "There is creation and environment, and this is the reason why the ideal and realism schools are divided. However, it is quite difficult to distinguish between the two. Because the environment created by a great poet must be in line with nature, and the environment he writes must be close to the ideal.”①
The reason why the tradition of combining realism and romanticism is particularly worthy of cherishing. Combining the two can reflect the times more deeply, fully, and comprehensively, and be more diversified in artistic form, and often have greater artistic appeal and stronger inspiration for readers. Guan Hanqing's "The Injustice of Dou E" truly reflects the dark reality of the Yuan Dynasty, fully expresses the resentment of Dou E who was wronged and the justice was finally upheld, deeply touching millions of readers. The author is full of strong love and hate when revealing reality, and his ideals and passion are permeated in the description of characters and their relationship with reality. Before she was executed, Dou E issued a passionate curse against the dark society in which "those who do good suffer poverty and have a short life, while those who do evil enjoy wealth and longevity": "Earth, you don't distinguish between good and evil, what is earth? Heaven, you This ruthless revelation aroused people's incomparable anger; this earth-shattering voice of resistance gave readers a strong infection and great encouragement.
The intertwining tradition of realism and romanticism in Chinese classical literature is as old as the history of literature. Starting from mythology, it has developed through the Book of Songs and Chu Ci to modern times. This tradition has been continuously enriched and developed, and its specific manifestations in literary creation are diverse. These still need to be carefully studied and summarized by us. When this historical tradition of intertwined realism and romanticism develops into the era of proletarian revolution and socialist construction, it cannot but undergo fundamental changes based on new realistic and ideological foundations. After 1942, some outstanding works were produced under the guidance of literature and art serving the workers, peasants and soldiers, such as the long poem "Wang Gui and Li Xiangxiang", the opera "The White-Haired Girl", the novel "The Storm", etc. Some of the revolutionary works Some have obvious realist tendencies, and some have obvious revolutionary romantic tendencies. Some have the characteristics of revolutionary realism and revolutionary romanticism. This exactly shows that under the guidance of literature and art serving the workers, peasants and soldiers, writers who have armed themselves with a Marxist-Leninist worldview have begun to explore creative methods that adapt to the new situation of our country's revolution. After the liberation of the country, our country entered the historical period of socialist revolution and socialist construction. In this new historical period, with the fundamental changes in the social system, the social status and mental outlook of the people have also fundamentally changed. They labor and build. It is no longer for the few exploiting classes, but to create your own happy life and realize your own ideals. Although there are still twists and turns on the way forward, and even serious setbacks may be encountered, the twists and turns and setbacks educate the people and make them more determined to work hard to realize the ideals of the revolution. Because they know that every concrete and practical work is a ladder leading to a great ideal. In such a society, there is no longer an irreconcilable contradiction between ideals and reality, but can be achieved through revolutionary practice. The ideal of building a modern and powerful socialist country and realizing communism is gradually realized in every practical work, and has become an indispensable force that inspires people to move forward. Under such a situation, the ideological and spiritual productivity of the people has also been liberated. The spiritual shackles imposed on them by the private system of thousands of years are gradually being shattered. The working people, aware of their status as masters, are full of confidence and pride in their own strength and the future of the revolution. Therefore, he showed an unprecedented heroism and developed a high degree of revolutionary heroism and pioneering spirit in the process of building socialism.