What does May 4th literature mean?

May 4th literature is a new literature born in the New Culture Movement, which was an innovative movement initiated by a group of people with western education in China cultural circles in the early 20th century. 19 19 On the eve of the May 4th Movement, Chen Duxiu published an article in the New Youth edited by him, advocating democracy and science (Mr. De and Mr. Sai), criticizing the traditional pure China culture and spreading Marxist thoughts. On the one hand, the moderates represented by Hu Shi opposed Marxism, supported the vernacular movement and advocated pragmatism instead of Confucianism, which was the origin of the New Culture Movement. During this period, Chen Duxiu, Hu Shi, Lu Xun and others became the core figures of the New Culture Movement, which became the forerunner of the May 4th Movement.

The literary revolution began at 19 17. It is the development of the literary reform movement in the late Qing Dynasty under the new historical conditions and adapts to the new cultural movement with ideological revolution as its main content. As a part of the New Culture Movement, the criticism of feudal thought inevitably turned to the attack on feudal literature, opposing classical Chinese, advocating vernacular Chinese, opposing old literature and advocating new literature, which became a literary revolutionary movement. In the history of China literature, a distinct boundary marker was erected, marking the end of classical literature and the beginning of modern literature.

1, literary concept

Criticize the literary view of "literature carries Tao" or "game recreation" and advocate the literary view of reflecting social life and transforming national spirit. The literary views of the May 4th masters are utilitarian. At first, they thought they were visionaries and intellectual elites. To solve the China problem, we must first solve the problem of China people's consciousness. Therefore, they criticized the literary view that "game recreation" is not serious, and let literature bear the historical responsibility of thought. Today, some of their criticisms are correct, such as shady novels; On the other hand, while paying attention to the utility of literature, the literary revolution paid insufficient attention to the entertainment and recreation of literature. The entertainment and recreation of literature are closely related to literariness, and the result is to pay attention to the ideological and philosophical nature of literature while reducing literariness.

2. Literary theme and content

It reflects the anti-imperialist and anti-feudal national sentiment, praises democracy, humanity and freedom, and shows the modern spirit. "Democracy, humanity and freedom" was the central word at that time, which was summed up as one aspect: "personal concept".

3. Literary forms

In language, the classical Chinese and rigid traditional styles are completely abolished and written in vernacular Chinese. Classical Chinese and vernacular Chinese are historical concepts, and literature and vernacular Chinese are different in different times. Words are written, while white is spoken. Literature and white in each era are relative. In addition, vernacular literature did not start from the May 4th Movement. The "wind" in The Book of Songs is the vernacular. After the Song and Yuan Dynasties, vernacular literature began to flourish, and novels, Yuanqu and Yuanzaju in the Song Dynasty became more vernacular, and the romance of the Ming and Qing Dynasties also used vernacular. Emphasizing the contribution of vernacular literature during the May 4th Movement means emphasizing that the May 4th Movement regarded vernacular literature as authentic literature and rejected the orthodox position of classical Chinese literature. Poetry and literature are vernacular. As a result, the style has changed: traditional poetry and prose are authentic, and the "four major styles" after the May Fourth Movement are poetry, novel, prose and drama.