China’s Youth: A Preliminary Inquiry into the Discourses on the Initiation of Youth and the New Nation in Modern Chinese Fiction(II)

本計劃擬就中國現代小說中「青少年成長/啟蒙論述」與「新國家論述」之 建構間的相關問題，進行研探。 「新國家」是晚清以來知識分子戮力追求的政治/文化理想。它起於對西方 政經軍事文化強勢衝擊的回應，亟盼在新興國家主體的建構中重締新猷;而青少 年，正是創構新國家的希望所繫。以是，不僅「青年成長」與「國家成長」，每 被視為一體之兩面，「青少年成長/啟蒙論述」，亦以此成為建構/想像新興之「少 年中國」的重要憑藉。 「少年中國」的想望，原源自於對世變的憂思，故而，在政局政爭遷變動盪、 文化思潮嬗遞起落的影響下，它不僅是貫串於晚清、五四以迄文革前後文學的重 要主題，也是思辨「現代中國」發展時，不可忽視的線索。然而，現今研治現代 文學的海內外學者們，卻鮮少注意及此。因此，本計劃將以兩年時間，先集中處 理五四至四０年代間的重要文本，以期為該研究開展初步的思辨徑路。在作法 上，除參考西方成長/啟蒙小說之興起發展，及晚清與五四文人如何循由日本明 治時期特重「少年」、「青春」之論述，得到「少年中國」之文學想像的啟發外， 將一方面檢析《新青年》、《晨鐘》、《少年中國》等期刊中的相關論述，為「少 年中國」之說釐析理念脈絡，另方面，則擬以魯迅、郁達夫、茅盾、巴金、路翎 等代表作家的小說為例，探析青少年成長/啟蒙論述在文學想像中的操演實踐， 及其與「現代性」的關聯。This project attempts to explore the questions pertaining to the relationship between the “discourse on the initiation of youth” and “discourse on New Nation”. The idea of “ New Nation” comes from the political and cultural ideals pursued by the Chinese intellectuals in the late Qing Dynasty. It arose as a reaction to the strong Western impacts upon China in terms of political, economical, cultural, and military aspects. In turn, China intends to affirm itself through constructing national subjectivity. The hope of building new China lies in its youth. Thus the growth of youth and the growth of nation are two sides of a coin. The “discourse on initiation of youth” is also considered the basis of a reconstructed and renewed China in literary imagination. The longing for a New China can trace back to the anxiety of world change. Along with the political up and downs, the cultural trends also fluctuated. The idea of China’s Youth, thus became the major literary subject from the late Qing Dynasty all the way to the Culture Revolution. To follow the development of “Modern China”, one can not possibly neglect the clues imbedded in the concept of “China’s Youth”, which are frequently underestimated in contemporary literature research. This project will allocate two years in time to focus on the essential literary works between the May Fourth Movement and the 1940s. After the paths of analytical thinking are clearly set, the development of the Western initiation novels will be taken into account. The project will use the relevant discussions in journals such as “The New Youth”, “Morning Bell” and “The Young China” to clarify the central ideas of “the Young China”. Explicit examples from Lu Xun(魯迅), Mao Dun(茅盾), Ba Jing(巴金), and Lu Ling(路翎)'s novels will also be cited to investigate the relations between the practice of “the initiation of youth” and its “modernity”