The main reasons for this "bipolar reading phenomenon" are as follows: first, due to the "gap of the times", the cultural contexts of different times have different influences on people. Apart from the reason why readers often can't "return to the historical scene", the "gap of the times" mainly lies in their inability to "know people and discuss things", which brings their dissatisfaction with Guo Moruo's various performances after he engaged in political and social activities as a cultural celebrity, especially his aversion to "variety" and "fashion" entering reading. In other words, due to the "time gap", it is difficult to understand and tolerate the poet's actions.
Secondly, due to the change of aesthetic tendency of poetry, people have two different ways to read classic literary works, namely, professional reading (literary history reading) and non-professional reading (appreciation reading). The so-called "change of aesthetic tendency of poetry" is actually a manifestation of "time gap" in the aesthetic field. In fact, this phenomenon does not only exist in the gap between Guo Moruo and historical classics. The main reason lies in the lack of "historical vision", or rather, only focusing on their own appreciation feelings, without taking into account the "historical chain."
Why did Goddess become a classic during the May 4th Movement? This is a difficult problem for us to study the history of literature. In fact, not only for Goddess, but also for any classic in the history of literature, if we want to know the real reason for its fame, we must "return to the historical scene" and understand its ideological content and artistic form in the cultural context at that time, especially from the "interactive relationship" between the author and the reader. In other words, we should understand everyone's attitude towards it from the reader's "acceptance state" at that time. Classical works in the history of literature, whether poetry, novels, plays, essays or other forms, all have "unrepeatable beauty", which cannot be copied by future generations.
The main reason why Goddess became a classic during the May 4th Movement was that it represented the most representative spirit of that era. This is mainly reflected in three aspects, one is the patriotic spirit prevailing in the society at that time, the other is the rebellious spirit buried deep in almost everyone's heart at that time, and the third is the positive and enterprising spirit that people are eager for. We know that the May 4th Movement was an anti-imperialist and anti-feudal patriotic movement. At that time, no matter who you were, whether you were famous or not, as long as you raised your arms and shouted patriotism, people would immediately support you. Many student leaders grew up in such speeches and parades. Many famous works in Goddess, including its most famous works, such as Phoenix Nirvana and Tiangou, will feel exaggerated and impetuous from our current perspective, which is not suitable for today's appreciation habits, but we will also admit that the poet is serious whether he compares himself to Phoenix, Tiangou or Dark Coal. As long as you really understand the social situation and the poet's mood at that time, you will believe that he really thinks so: only by using such a metaphor can you express your feelings and explain your wishes. And this kind of mood and desire was the mood and desire of almost all young people at that time. These poems say what everyone wants to say but doesn't say, and others can't express it so beautifully. So it is not difficult to understand that they are welcomed by everyone.
(Anonymous)