Explanations for a Few Theoretical Issues of the Research Subject 野con- Temporary Chinese Literature and Folk Culture冶

Explanations for a few Theoretical Issues of the Research Subject 野Con- temporary Chinese Literature and Folk Culture冶

Institute of Chinese literature in Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences College of Arts in Huangshan University College of Arts in Jiangnan University

Abstract On the basis of organizing and summarizing the relationship between folk culture and modern and contemporary Chinese literature, the theories and methods of Archetypal Folk Criticism have been developed within the research scope of contemporary Chinese literature. Rooted in rich experience of literary history, those theories and methods have remoulded Archetypal Literary Criticism advanced by Western aca- demic circles and put it into practice in light of Chinese characteristics. Compared to Archetypal Literary Criticism, Archetypal Folk Crit- icism has attached more importance to the innovative functions and meanings of Archetypes, been inclined to tap into the local aesthetics consciousness of writers and further contributed to the understanding of the relations among the nativeness, nationality and cosmopolitanism of contemporary Chinese literature. Conducting research into Archety- pal Folk Criticism can not only present the folk cultural traditions and aesthetic forms and aesthetic characteristics of contemporary Chinese literature but also probe into the generating laws, local characteristics and aesthetic mechanisms of contemporary Chinese literature and re-

WANG Guangdong, Doctor of Literature, a researcher of the Institute of Chinese literature in Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences. Major Research Direction: Chinese Modern and Contemporary Literature. ZHOU Tao, Doctor of Literature, associate professor of College of Arts in Huang- shan University. Major Research Direction: Chinese Modern and Contemporary Literature. LUO Xingping, Doctor of Literature, professor of College of Arts in Jiangnan Uni- versity. Major Research Direction: Chinese Modern and Contemporary Literature. 窑70 窑 New Explorations of Archetypal Folk Criticism: Explanations for a few Theoretical Issues of the Research Subject 野Contemporary Chinese Literature and Folk Culture冶 veal its internal impetus and spiritual resources in the process of growth, thus boosting the development of literature.

Keywords Folk Culture; Archetypal Criticism; Contemporary Chinese Literature; Consciousness of Local Aesthetics

he in-depth development and research of any branch of learning can hardly T do without two conditions: the discovery of new material changing the existing views and new explanations of material or text now available based on new research methods or research viewpoints. With the aim of exploiting the room for studying the the relationship between contemporary Chinese literature and folk culture and exploring the deep-seated spiritual link between contemporary Chi- nese literature and traditional folk culture, this paper has attempted to put forward and make use of the theories and methods of Archetypal Folk Criticism by means of three research findings,

as well as . In the course of contemporary Chinese literature history, folk culture and literature are closely connected from beginning to end and the former serves as the non-negligible internal impetus and spiritual resources for contemporary Chinese literature. Revealing the significance of folk culture to the full can not only further explain the generating and developing laws of contemporary Chinese literature from the angle of local culture but also discover the relations between the folk culture in the narrative of literary history and other cultural forms, highlight the forms of existence and value of aesthetic resources among the people in the course of contemporary Chinese literature history and enable contemporary Chinese literature to establish an extensive spiritual connection with local experience, memories, convictions, ethics and historical traditions, and thus boosting national literature and special literature.

Before carrying out the study of contemporary Chinese literature from the per-

窑71 窑 Critical Theory Vol.3 No.2 spective of Folk Archetypes, we have to roughly organize and set forth some concepts such as Archetype and Archetypal Criticism. The concept of 耶an archetype爷 is first put forward by Philo of Alexandria, a Hellenistic Jewish philosopher, when he refers to the 野transcendent God冶 in humans, God is also known as the 野Beacon of Archetypes冶, and an archetype can be a Platonic philo- sophical idea referring to pure forms, according to Carl Gustav Jung, a Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst. However, For Jung, the reason why he borrows the word 野Archetype冶 is to show a kind of 野Nature of Psychology冶, which is different from the concept of 野Unconscious冶 advanced by Cullers, Von Hartmann and Freud. In his view, there is a kind of 野Collective Unconscious冶, 野which isn爷t derived from personal experience or experience acquired, but is innate. Hence, I have named it 耶Collective Unconscious爷. Due to the fact that the unconscious mentioned here is general rather than individual, I have chosen the word 耶Collec- tive爷. Contrary to individual psychology, the Collective Unconscious is provided with similar content and behavioral patterns among all the places and all the people. In other words, since each people carries the Collective Unconscious, it has formed a kind of psychological foundation that is hyper-individual and prevails among all the people. 冶 The content of this kind of 野Innate冶 and 野General冶 Col- lective Unconscious is 野Archetypes冶, 野The Archetype is a kind of unconscious content by nature, and it will change and gain colors from the emerging individual consciousness when it becomes consciousness and can be perceived.冶1 The concept of the archetype proposed by Jung is mainly a kind of psychological concept, which can be used to explain some common human behaviors and modes of thinking. For example, giving a description of the myth of Adonis circulated widely among Greece, Egypt, Syria, the Eastern Mediterranean, West Africa and West Asia, James George Frazer, a Scottish social anthropologist and folklorist, points out people have created a dying-and-rising god named Adonis when they witness the significant impact of the four seasons on plants and the direct impact of the vegetative cycle of plants on humans. Owing to the fact that 野only by imi- tating things can desired effect be produced when it comes to witchcraft冶2, they want to realize a kind of good and practical desires: everything comes back to life and humans are rapidly moving towards prosperity, by means of mourning the death of Adonis and further celebrating his resurrection. Obviously, the phenomenon of the myth of Adonis can at least have three messages.

1.1 The myths of the same or similar kind may appear among different nationali- ties and regions around the world in a repeated way. Just as Ernst Cassirer said, 窑72 窑 New Explorations of Archetypal Folk Criticism: Explanations for a few Theoretical Issues of the Research Subject 野Contemporary Chinese Literature and Folk Culture冶

野there爷s no lack of a kind of true homogeneity in terms of the function of myth-creation, both anthropologists and ethnologists tend to find themselves dis covering the same basic idea in amazement, which prevails in the whole world and the societies and cultures with significant differences.冶 3

1.2 Besides the mutual transmission and influences between different cultures or civilizations, the recurring phenomenons of myths, in fact, indicate there exists a certain way of mankind爷s thinking mode or psychological structure that is of universal significance. In Frazer爷s mind, different nations and regions worldwide generally share some beliefs, rituals, taboos, customs and traditions of rough sim- ilarity that can be traced back to witchcraft convictions and ritual behaviors shared by all humans of this era. To primitive eyes, the world is, to a large extent, dominated by a kind of supernatural force or a god. By mimicking this kind of supernatural force or the god, or 野contacting冶 in a imaginary manner, namely performing witchcraft rituals, people are able to acquire the power of the god and further achieve the aim of impelling, taking advantage of, and manipulating the god. Such ritual behaviors, in fact, have already carried out the narrative of gods and constructed the formation of myths. Therefore, Taylor divided myths into 野Material Myths冶 and 野Verbal Myths冶4.

1.3 With a combination of Jung爷s theory, both 野Material Myths冶 and 野Verbal Myths冶 obviously contain rich archetypal connotations. As a result, Northrop Frye, a Canadian literary critic and literary theorist, claims 野myths as a kind of core transmitting force endow rituals and oracles with archetypal meaning and archetypal narratives respectively. Accordingly, myths are 野Archetypes冶5. In other words, the inner link between 野Archetypes冶 and 野Myths冶 has enabled the ex- ploration and interpretation of 野Myths冶 to become a kind of real possibility from the perspective of 野Archetypes冶, which contributes to the formation of 野Archety- pal Literary Criticism冶. However, as a kind of critical theory and method, the 野Archetype冶 in 野Archetypal Literary Criticism冶 not only contains the specific connotation of anthropological or psychological but serves as a kind of 野Archetype in Literature冶. 野Archetype is a kind of typical or recurrent image,冶 according to Frye, 野as a kind of symbol, an archetype can link a poem with other poems, which is conductive to uniting and integrating our literary experience. Moreover, since an archetype is a kin of communicable symbol, archetypal criticism focuses on the literature as social facts and communication models. 冶1 Therefore, for Frye, 野an Archetype冶 denotes 野literary symbols or symbol groups, 窑73 窑 Critical Theory Vol.3 No.2 which have been used repeatedly in literature, thus having conventionality,冶 and it can be literary structural units of stability such as 野themes,冶野scenes冶 and 野genres of characters.冶 Therefore, Ye Shuxian divides this kind of archetype into four types. 野First, like a word, the communication unit in linguistics, an archetype is a unit that can communicate independently in literature. Second, an archetype can be an image, a symbol, a theme, a character and a structural unit, as along as they appear in different works in a recurrent manner with convention- al semantic associations. Third, the archetype reflects the strength of literary traditions, which links independent works together and enables literature to become a kind of unusual morphology of social communication. Fourth, both social psychology and historic culture are at the root of archetypes that link literature to life and play the role of a bridge in the interaction between literature and life.冶6 In light of the above-mentioned analyses of 野Archetypal Folk Criticism冶, this kind of theory is rooted in Western culture and Western literary context. 野There are three composition patterns of myths and archetypal symbols. The first is myths without displacement often involving gods or devils and present, which present a world of contrariety and identity completely based on metaphors...... The second is the inclination to well-known legends, which refer to those subtle mythical modes in a world that is closer to human experience. The third is the inclination to 耶Realism爷 (the single quotation marks here are to show my bad impression of this improper term.), namely emphasizing the content and expression of a story rather than its genre冶 according to Frye in . 1 In his view, the evolution of Myths-Legends-Realism is based on the 野Displacement冶 of 野Archetypes冶 in narrating the history of Western literature. When gods are displaced by heroes and men, myths are gradually changed into legends or 野realistic冶 literature. However, the archetypal structure of metaphor is hidden in both the legends and the realistic literature from beginning to end-- 野The ontology and vehicle of metaphor in myths are similar to each other in nature, while in realistic literature they need to be similar to each other in form. 冶7 Moreover, with those archetypal elements being refined and analyzed, the generating laws and connotations of literary text can often be revealed in a 野meaning- ful冶 manner. For example, the legend of Oedipus is the displacement of the myth of Chronos who kills his father and marries his mother. Chronos爷s behaviors aren爷t condemned by people because that story reflects the truth in the primitive society. However, in the civilized society in Greece, Oedipus has taken the pun- ishment of blinding his eyes and being exiled. 野That proves there are rules to follow in the evolution of literary narrative, and the displacement and update of lit 窑74 窑 New Explorations of Archetypal Folk Criticism: Explanations for a few Theoretical Issues of the Research Subject 野Contemporary Chinese Literature and Folk Culture冶 erary content depend on the specific moral standards of each era. Hence, count- less works in literary history can be linked and unite as one by means of some fundamental archetypes, wherefore the laws and phenomenons of literary evolution can be figured out in a clear manner.冶8 In addition, owing to the fact that 野Archetypal Literary Criticism冶 focuses on certain human behaviors, psychology and emotion of universal meaning, it can provide new theoretical viewpoints and new modes of criticism for the research of Chinese Literature. The theories and methods of archetypal criticism have been consciously introduced, interpreted and applied by domestic scholars since the 1980s. Therefore, a batch of influen- tial works and translations such as by Jung, selected by Ye Shuxian, and by Ye Shuxian, and by Cheng Jincheng, by Fu Daobin, by Hu Zhiyi, by Wu Guangzheng, by Zhang Jundi and by Tan Guilin have emerged, which represent the research achievements of 野Archetypal Criticism冶 in Chinese literature. In light of the dual character of 野Archetypal Literary Criticism冶, it should be absorbed, used for reference and remoulded on the basis of local standpoints and experience, so as to enter into the research scope of Chinese literature. 野There are two reasons why Chinese myths are very few left. First, the ancestors of Chi- nese people reside the Huanghe Valley where is always dogged by misfortunes, and they are industrious by nature, wherefore they value the practical rather than the imaginary and have failed to write out classics. Second, Confucianism stress- es the importance of Self-cultivating, family-regulating, state-ordering and then the land great governed and opposes talking about gods and devils, and the myths and legends of the ancient times have been taken slightly. Accordingly, those myths and legends haven爷t been promoted but they have been scattered and lost.冶 according to Lu Xun in .9 野The term 耶Myths爷 doesn爷t exist in China. However, there are a great deal of fragmentary material of myths, 冶 according to Mao Dun. The loss of myths is attributed to 野the historization of myths and a lack of great events that can shake the whole 窑75 窑 Critical Theory Vol.3 No.2 nation and create 耶the Divine Poet爷. 冶10 Both Lu Xun and Mao Dun point out China abounds in myths and why the myths are 野Scattered and Lost冶. However, China is rich in folktales and folk legends. 野China is 耶a Nation of Legends爷. Just like she is a natural-resource-rich country, she is also abundant in folk legends. Although some scholars think China is a lack of myths, she is full of folk legends. Whether or not China is the poorest country in the world in terms of the quantity of myths remains to be discussed, but it is indisputable that she abounds in legends.冶11 This suggests that the number of folk legends and folk stories is more than that of myths in terms of the preservation of the myths, folk legends and folk stories now available in China. Hence, if it爷s only based on 野Mythologi- cal Archetypes冶, it爷s difficult to illustrate the relation between the creation of Chinese literature, especially for contemporary Chinese literature, versus Chinese culture and Chinese literary traditions. Archetypal theories of the West are rooted in their mythological pedigrees and mythological traditions. However, since Chi- na is relatively void of myths, it爷s difficult to establish a profound historical link between literary writing and mythological archetypes and abundant folk legends and folk stories are likely to replace the role played by myths. What are the similarities and differences between myths versus folk stories and folk legends? 野Al- though myths are identical with legends in form, the former follow the story of gods and therefore fall into the religious category, and the latter follow the story of men and therefore fall into the historical category. Despite the fact that folk legends and folk stories are alike in many ways, the former follow the story of demigods and heroes and therefore fall into the historical category, and the latter follow the story of eminent persons in the mortal world and therefore fall into the biographical category,冶 according to Zhou Zuoren.12 In accordance with Zhou爷s understanding of folk stories and folk legends, 野It爷s a kind of literary style, in which folks describe what happened in their life, tell about their own stories, nar- rate their own history and express their own wishes by means of oral language,冶 which is a more exact definition of the term 野folk stories and folk legends冶.13 There are obvious distinctions between myths and folk stories and folk legends. First, the protagonist of myths is 野Gods冶, while the protagonist of folk stories and folk legends is 野men冶 or 野immortals, Taoist priests, spirits and monsters冶 who are transformed from men. Second, folk stories and folk legends possess seculari- ty, while myths are provided with holiness. Without a doubt, there爷s an inner link between myths versus folk legends and folk stories, because myths serves as one of the sources of folk legends and folk stories and both myths and folk legends feature surreality and 野Animism冶 in the process of understanding the world, 窑76 窑 New Explorations of Archetypal Folk Criticism: Explanations for a few Theoretical Issues of the Research Subject 野Contemporary Chinese Literature and Folk Culture冶 wherefore folk legends and folk stories are also known as secular myths. The differences and similarities between myths versus folk legends and folk stories have enabled us to transform 野Archetypal Literary Criticism冶 of the West into the theories and methods of 野Archetypal Folk Criticism冶 possessing local characteristics. Hence what are 野Folk Archetypes冶? We have to pay special attention to two con cepts in the research on folk literature: Types and Motifs. As the secular myths, folk legends and folk stories (including oral literature of other styles) feature 野stories told by different people are largely identical with only minor differences in terms of plot structures. The stories told by people who are a thousand miles apart are similar to each other... 耶Types爷 refer to the fixed main plots that are identical with and similar to each other, while 耶Variant Texts爷 denote different texts that are different from each other in terms of minor details and language...The definitions of 耶Motifs爷 differ in different domains of literary research. In terms of the folk narrative works, a motif is normally regarded as a kind of story elements or the minimum narrative unit that can be subdivided, which is reflected by distinct characters爷 behaviors or incidents. Moreover, featuring strong stability, the motif is a recurring element in a lot of works; the mo- tif爷s unusual features, profound connotations and functions of organizing and connecting stories are the root of this kind of stability.冶14 In order to discuss the types and motifs of those folk literary works and related subjects, characters, structures and imaginations, the significance generated in the forming process of people爷s culture psychology and the 野Displacement冶 and its value of the literary works created by literati, the analysis of 野Folk Archetypes冶 has been carried out. Generally speaking, folk archetypes is the recurring story elements such as images, characters, subjects, structures and imaginations in folk literary works, and there are links of common meanings between works of different periods. In this sense, the theories and methods of Archetypal Folk Criticism developed within the research scope of contemporary Chinese literature have borrowed Frye爷s theory of 野Literary Archetypes冶 and combined the relatively stable elements such as the types, motifs, structures, imaginations, subjects and characters of folk stories in folk culture and literary history with the psychology, narrative modes, subjects, connotations, structure modes and imagination modes of literary creations, with the aim of studying the folk culture traditions and folk aesthetic features in the creations of contemporary Chinese literature, showing the distinguishing features of Chinese literature, revealing generating laws and the formation of aesthetic characteristics of contemporary Chinese literature and further exploring how the 窑77 窑 Critical Theory Vol.3 No.2 realistic cultural force of different periods hinder and dominate the development of literature and how literature participates in constructing the cultural context and aesthetic experience of the age.15

For the sake of 野restoring冶 or exploring the folk culture traditions of contemporary Chinese literature, furnishing scrutinize and elucidation from a local perspective, looking into the historical experience and laws of the generating and development of contemporary Chinese literature from the angle of folk culture and seeking aesthetic resources and intellectual impetus for constructing contemporary Chinese literature with national features, this papa has advanced and applied the theories and methods of 野Archetypal Folk Criticism冶 and presented the existence forms and aesthetic manifestations of folk culture factors in the text of contemporary Chinese literature. In other words, before carrying out meticulous and in-depth analyses and expositions of specific literary text, it爷s, obviously, necessary to organize and expound the relationship between folk culture and contemporary Chinese literature as a whole, thus providing necessary bases of literary history for studying contemporary Chinese literature within the scope of 野Archetypal Folk Criticism冶. Folk culture and folk literature both played an important role in constructing New Literature from start to finish. Hu Shih held that New Literature was derived from the people. Intellectuals during the May Fourth Movement not only stressed the importance of the common people爷s folk language so as to fit in with the needs of propagating new thoughts and New Literature but launched a campaign to collect folk songs of modern times in 1918. Those intellectuals opened a col- umn to publish selections of folk songs in the . For example, Liu Bannong et al. Not only collected and organized folk songs but also follow the example of those folk songs and create new ones, which has brought the beneficial elements of folk songs into the creation of new poems. Lu Xun爷s several works such as Village Opera, Hometown and The True Story of Ah Q are permeated by elements of folk culture. In the 1930s, there was a closer relationship between the novel writing of Shen Congwen and Lao She versus folk culture. As a a writer who combined folk culture and its aesthetic resources with his own creations on his initiative, he attached great importance to dialects, folk songs, folk legends and folk stories in the process of writing novels.

窑78 窑 New Explorations of Archetypal Folk Criticism: Explanations for a few Theoretical Issues of the Research Subject 野Contemporary Chinese Literature and Folk Culture冶

written by Lao She reveals the folk culture psychology in a profound manner, and Xiangzi爷s principles of life and behaviors and Tiger Girl爷s doughtiness and vulgar are all affected by folk culture. In the 1940s, Zhao Shuli depicted the rural society from a folk perspective and served as a link between the people versus political ideology with the aim of 野the common people enjoying reading and it working in politics.冶16 After the establishment of the People爷s Republic of China in 1949, the over- all course of contemporary Chinese literature has been obstructed by national political ideology, and a variety of literary 野normative冶 standards have been for- mulated, 野which stipulate not only the subjects of literary writing but also the handling of subjects, methods and artistic styles.冶 For example, literary writing is obliged to depict the life of workers, peasants, and soldiers and focuses on portraying the images of advanced persons and heroes; literary writing is obliged to depict the 耶bright side爷 of life and give priority to 耶sing the praises of labour heroes爷; literary writing is obliged to reveal 耶the essence of history爷, uncover the 耶objective laws爷 of life and have a very positive attitude to historical development.17 However, those standards have failed to completely conceal the memories, voices and their aesthetic presentation from the people. By taking the novels written by Zhou Libo during this period, we can find those novels are permeated with the colour and charm of folk culture between the lines despite the fact that they deliberately think over and construct the practical rural order according to the political norms and political requirements, which are in stark contrast to Zhao Suli爷s novels. The narrative starting point of Zhao爷s novels is farmers爷 thoughts and emotions and their development process is carried out from the folk perspective with the aim of serving as a link between the people and political ideology and writing how farmers change their attitudes towards life and conform to the political norms and political requirements so as to cope with great social change. However, the narrative starting point of Zhou爷s novels is political ideology. As a research once said when it came to and , they 野all begin with a stranger who 耶enters into爷 a village, which is a scene of symbolic significance; the destruction and reconstruction of old rural orders is realized by means of the stranger爷s entrance into the village, or we can say the narrative of his novels depends on the stranger爷s viewpoints. However, the stranger is, in fact, the a phantom of the Chinese Communist Party冶.18 Narrat- ing the changes of the village爷s folk society and folk cultural forms based on those viewpoints is apt to result in the simplification of rural life, because such conceptualized viewpoints tend to ask the characters爷 thoughts, logic and purpos- 窑79 窑 Critical Theory Vol.3 No.2 es of behavior to conform to those viewpoints and neglect the characteristics of people from all walks of life in reality that are far more complicated and richer than those viewpoints, thus enabling the characters in those works to lack substance or serve as the 野Megaphone of those viewpoints冶. The regret that the char- acters爷 disposition in Great Change in the Hills and Countryside is not varied (for example, Chen Dachun is just a bull in a china shop, while Sheng Qingming is nothing but a vivacious guy.) is closely related to this feature. Despite all that, why are Zhou爷s novels pro vided with the significance of literary history? Be- cause they have retained some elements of folk cultural forms and aesthetic tastes in the process of narrating his political ideology in reality. In other words, his works have linked the reconstruction of villages carried out by the state power and ideology with the changes of folk customs and relationships, express the unrestrained peasants爷 changing processes and expressive styles against the external force in a relatively authentic manner and strengthen the aesthetic significance of villages by describing the picturesque and poetic natural landscape alternately.19 The adaptations of traditional Chinese operas in 1949-1966 were permeated with this kind of expressive force of folk culture. The adaptations of traditional Chinese operas during this period had played an important part in the Theatre Re- form Campaign throughout. This 野Campaign冶 is an organized cultural and political movement carried out on a national scale by means of the force of state power under the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party. On May 5th, 1951, operas were renamed and endowed with new meanings要要要野People爷s operas serve as an important weapon to educate the broad masses of people by virtue of democ- racy and patriotism,冶 in signed and issued by Zhou Enlai, which revealed the state power爷s paths and intentions by borrowing the the force of operas. In other words, 野the interests of both the country and the people can be met冶 through 野Reform冶 and 野Development冶. Hence, in the name of the central government, the established the principles, standards and norms of opera censorship: 野Operas爷 priority are ought to develop the peo- ple爷s patriotism and inspire the people爷s heroism in the revolutionary struggle and productive labor. Those that publicize the revolt against invasion and oppres- sion, the love for your country, freedom and labor and the people爷s righteousness and kindness should be encouraged and popularized. On the contrary, those that agitate for feudalism and barbarism or indecency and smearing the images of the labouring people should be combated. 冶20 Obviously, the reform or adaptations of traditional Chinese dramas have been endowed with clear meanings and functions of political ideology. However, as a kind of aesthetic artistic form, tradition- 窑80 窑 New Explorations of Archetypal Folk Criticism: Explanations for a few Theoretical Issues of the Research Subject 野Contemporary Chinese Literature and Folk Culture冶 al Chinese dramas have accumulated several elements moral principles, logics of life and manners and customs that are rooted in people爷s consciousness and the sentimental value set by those dramas over a long period of time. Once they have been interfered by the political authorities, it爷s obviously worth discussing how the content of folk culture in drama texts encounters national ideology, what is the true colors or changes of those texts after encountering, how the aesthetic mechanism of those texts produce, how to construct the path of adaptations and how on earth to represent the value of those texts. Taking the Kun Opera as an example, we can find that its successful adaptation was regarded as a great event in both political life and cultural life at that time, and it was praised for 野bring Kun opera back to life冶 and 野playing a positive role in educating in a practical manner冶 by the ideology of that time.21 Although the state will just felt satisfied with the 野practical educational role冶 of , we cannot deny that it爷s still an opera featuring rich color of folk culture. In other words, for Kuang Zhong, the protagonist, he can certainly be regarded as a model of 野struggling against bureaucratism, subjectivism and doctri- nairism.冶 However, for the common people, he爷s just an honest and upright official, who is one of the recurrent archetypes of honest and upright officials in the texts of traditional Chinese dramas. The phenomenon of 野honest and upright of- ficials冶 is derived from historical reasons, realistic reasons, spiritual reasons and cultural reasons. It爷s impossible for the ruling class to call themselves 野honest and upright officials冶, while the 野honest and upright officials冶 serve as an honorific title and the spiritual sustenance among the common people who are in a condition of utter helplessness over a long period of time22, wherefore they need a spokesman (namely 野honest and upright officials冶) to safeguard their interests. Moreover, the honest and upright official must be capable of playing the part of a spokesman and therefore the masses have endowed the honest and upright official with not only the quality of pleading for the people but also miraculous abil- ities. For example, Bao Zheng, who was a government officer during the reign of Emperor Renzong in China爷s Song Dynasty, was selected as 野an imaginary im- age冶 by the masses and he gained the honorific title Justice Bao and In-corrup- tion Bao. Moreover, the masses endowed him with the ability to 野try the case in the land of the living during the daytime冶 and 野try the case in the nether world in the night time冶, and created several famous cases such as the Case of Executing Chen Shimei for him. The image of 野honest and upright officials冶 shows the masses爷 practical and utilitarian convictions and straightforward and simple ide- als. Both Bao Zheng and Kuang Zhong are in keeping with the image of 野honest 窑81 窑 Critical Theory Vol.3 No.2 and upright officials冶. Hence, in this sense, despite the fact that the adaptation of has played a significant role in propagating ideology, it爷s still 野a dramatic piece of rich folk interest, folk emotion and folk con- sciousness冶.23 In other words, facing a variety of admonitions of and punishments from the authorities and ideology, folk culture boasts charming peculiarities, which is, in the author爷s mind, the internal cause of the successful adaptation of . 野The editor hasn爷t added some unbearable themes to and merely found out some positive elements in the original work, thus developing them, which is one of the causes of the successful adaptation of the dramatic piece,冶 according to Zheng Geng.24 Since the new era, taking a more positive posture and showing clearer colors, folk culture is involved the history of contemporary Chinese literature. In the 1980s, the relationships between folk culture and contemporary Chinese culture can roughly be divided into the following types. First, it爷s the works portraying 野Rural Reform冶, which focused on showing how new political consciousness en- tered into the daily life of villages and changed the 野unrestrained冶 folk cultural forms. Examples of the literature showing the turbulence and change of values in villages include and by Jia Pingwa and by Lu Yao. Second, it爷s the works adopting an dual attitude towards the folk cultural forms in villages in terms of the value of 野enlightenment冶. On the one hand, they uncovered the unsophisticated quality of peasants and the progressive forces in folk cultural forms. On the other hand, they mercilessly criticized the peas- ants爷 deep-rooted bad habits. Third, it爷s the works adopting a relatively gentle and kind attitude towards the folk cultural forms in villages, which were different from the above-mentioned two kinds of works. Moreover, it seemed that the writers of those works severed their connection with the so-called senses of mission and responsibility which traditions the traditions have entrusted to them, and looked for another ideal habitat in the land of folks. Examples of those works include and by Wang Zengqi and and by Liu Shaotang. Fourth, in the socio-cultural context of intense changes in the 1980s, social re- forms caused a turbulent situation in folk cultural forms in villages and changes of and conflicts over values. Different from the by Jia Pingwa, by Wang Runzi insisted on pursuing the rationality of folk morals in changes of reality taking the stand of folk culture and starting from peasants爷 plain ethical and moral ideas. Instead, Wang didn爷t depreciate the peasants爷 unrestrained moral ideas in terms of the value orientation of 野Social 窑82 窑 New Explorations of Archetypal Folk Criticism: Explanations for a few Theoretical Issues of the Research Subject 野Contemporary Chinese Literature and Folk Culture冶

Progress冶. Fifth, another group of writers-collectively said to constitute the Roots movement-including Han Shaogong, Jia Pingwa and Zheng Wanlong sought to place the roots of national culture in folk cultural forms with the aim of highlight- ing the folk value of culture as a whole instead of the value of 野Civil Morals冶. Hence, those writers unfolded the connate folk cultural forms of remote folk societies in a cultural sense rather than an ideological sense. Sixth, emerged as a new force in the literature of the 1980s, Mo Yan爷s works such as created a brand new world of art, in which the people had their own significance and value, no longer attached themselves to the intellectuals爷 spirit of enlightenment and extricated themselves from defining them from a political ideological perspective. This kind of significance was not only aesthetics but also cultural, sentimental and biotic. When it comes to a revival of the land of the people in the literature of the 1980s, Mo Yan, in a real sense, marks the revival.25 After the 1990s, taking a firm folk stand, a batch of conscious 野folk writes冶 became an unique landscape in the contemporary Chinese literary world, who took folk culture as the destination of their souls, experienced diversification and vast of the folk world and were shocked by the profound substance of folk culture. by Han Shaogong, No Class Struggle Among the People by Li Rui, by Yu Hua and by Zhang Wei were permeated with a broad humanistic feeling from their description of the land of the people. While devoting themselves to the people, they were nourished in spirit by the people who had taught them to resist oppres- sion and defend life. Aiming to realize the free growth of souls, is immersed in the compassionate feelings about the land of the people and figures out the exuberant intrinsic vitality of the people; follows how a struggling cart-pusher resists is harmed by a variety of hardships; portrays the 野unrestrained冶 living state of the people by means of a kind of distinctive 野Folk Language冶 in a blunt way. 26In the 21st Century, the combination of folk culture and contemporary Chinese literature has enabled most of the writers to conscientiously draw lessons from, derive and restore 野the people爷s ability to imagine冶. In fact, since the appearance of writing for lust in the 1990s, the imagination has been harmed to some extent, which is hidden in the socio-cultural context, because lust is constantly involved in money and sex in the process of narrating lust. In other words, the materialization of lust hinders free imaginations, which remains virtually unchanged in the literary creation of the 21st century. However, 野Imaginations of the People冶 still have strong 窑83 窑 Critical Theory Vol.3 No.2 aesthetic power in the literary creations of the 21st century and are permeated with 野Individualized Imaginations冶. Accordingly, several excellent works such as by Mo Yan, by Su Tong and by Lin Bai have come into being.27

Having gotten a general impression of the relationship between folk culture and contemporary Chinese literature, we should elucidate, collate and stipulate the concepts of 野the Folk冶 and 野Folk Culture冶 and their functions and value within in the scope of contemporary literature. First, folk culture28 refers to the culture prevailing at the bottom of society rather than official culture or the culture prevailing at the upper class of society. On the one hand, featuring collectivity and anonymity, folk culture refers to the combination of etiquette and custom, habits, language and art that come into being in people爷 life over a long period of time and are closely linked with people爷s everyday life. On the other hand, provided with relativity and marginality, folk culture underlines the quality of 野being out of office冶 and strong inclusivity, unlike official culture who has standardability in a relatively clear manner. Hence, it爷s apt to be affected by official culture, main- stream culture and foreign culture. However, when it comes to the transformation and reconstruction of official culture, folk culture can, in return, produce an effect on the construction of official culture by virtue of its hidden richness. More- over, owing to the fact that folk culture overlaps with local culture and traditional culture, folk culture is supposed to be a concept covering a wide range of meanings. Specifically, it mainly refers to the perceivable cultural forms by virtue of languages or materials such as folk literature, folkways and Ritual systems as well as the deep-seated intangible mental contents such as the convictions, ethics, cognitive logic and stable historical traditions, which have established complicated tension-type relationships with several cultural elements or forms such as political ideology, elite culture, popular culture or national cultural traditions. 野The expression 耶the Folk爷 refers to the majority of uneducated masses,冶 according to Zhou Zuoren.29 However, the boundaries of the concept of 野the Folk冶 more often than not very unclear. Moreover, this concept is first proposes by literati (intellectuals). For example, some scholars consider this concept is derived from Feng

窑84 窑 New Explorations of Archetypal Folk Criticism: Explanations for a few Theoretical Issues of the Research Subject 野Contemporary Chinese Literature and Folk Culture冶

Menglong, a Chinese vernacular writer and poet of the late Ming Dynasty. Before receiving conformation of relativity, it depends on the existence of intellectuals or authorities, because 野the majority of uneducated masses冶, in general, will not consciously call themselves 野the Folk冶. Obviously, from the perspective of Zhou Zuoren, the folk, without doubt, serves as 野the Other冶 with respect to the subject of a certain dominant culture. In addition, 野the Folk冶 here is the equal of the people in the relationships between officials versus the people and gentry scholars versus the people, who have strong political significance. However, since the May Fourth Movement, going through the test of the spirit of the modern enlightenment, the connotation of the word 野People冶 has gradually deviated from its o- riginal meaning and expanded. Moreover, due to the fact that the concepts of the folk, the nation, the bottom and workers and peasants have been e quated with each other and permeated with the significance of 野Humans冶 and the fundamental value of humanism, some intellectuals hold that the concept of 野the Folk冶 even can cover various thoughts, feelings, daily lives of the masses, wherefore the denotation of the folk has been extended in an anthropological sense. More importantly, owing to the aesthetic creation carried out by Chinese writers and the sustained attention paid by scholars to folk problems since the initiation of New Literature, the category of the folk in literary and cultural senses has con- tained plentiful semantics. Since the expression 野the folk冶 has often been used as adjectives rather than nouns, it tends to be a semantic component featuring deter- minative, dividing and modifying functions. Obviously, the words and expressions involving the folk can not be regarded as the substance of the folk in a rough manner. Accordingly, the category of the folk, the culture pedigree of dis- course generation and corresponding intersubjective relations and spiritual connotations should be explored in a careful fashion. As a result, we have to notice the intrinsic span of the concept of the folk in the process of studying folk problems, from politics to anthropology, from social formations to aesthetic expressions, from cultural otherness to the unrestrained quality of the people and from nationality and nativeness to cosmopolitanism. If the folk has been investigated in terms of the 野objective冶 authority structure, we will focus on its multiple na- tures and its complicated relationships with political ideology and the traditions of elite culture. If the folk has been investigated in terms of artistic forms and aesthetic expressions, we will underline the transformation and presentation of folk forms and national traditions in modern and contemporary Chinese literature. If the folk has been investigated in terms of ethics and significance, we will pay attention to the problems of relation reconstruction and identification as well 窑85 窑 Critical Theory Vol.3 No.2 as the ethical care and the spirit of subjective retrospection in cultural expression. The immediate object should be narrative texts featuring folk characteristics, in the course of investigating folk culture爷s significance of genetics within the scope of contemporary Chinese literature. By virtue of narrative texts, we will mainly investigate various aesthetic forms of expression of folk elements in those narrative texts so as to analyze the generating relations of symbols and forms between folk culture and folk aesthetic expression, contemporary Chinese litera- ture爷s modal continuation and creative transformation of folk literary traditions, the narrative relationship between writers (contemporary intellectuals) and folk objects and the modern value and ethical dimension of the folk. Investigating the impact of folk culture and literature upon literary narrative in terms of local experience is to treat various constituents of the folk or folk culture as the structural elements of genetics at different levels rather than figure out the one-to-one cor- respondence between contemporary narrative texts and folk elements or justify the value of the folk in a uni-dimensional manner, thus further presenting the rapidly changing world and broadening the width and depth of literary research.30 Hence, this paper has reckoned that 野Archetypal Folk Criticism冶 is not only the theoretical distillation and explorations rooted in abundant experience of literary history as well as a kind of practical method or path with the aim of establishing the folk elucidatory dimension of contemporary Chinese literature. Within the framework of this research topic, the term 野the Folk冶 is not restricted to abstract modes of thinking or cultural ideas but a kind of aesthetic resources, forms of expression and driving forces including a variety of folkways that are provided with or can generate aesthetic significance, literary and art forms among the people such as myths, legends and folk stories and folk archetypes such as characters, motifs, images and structures. We mainly focus on those folk archetypes爷 existing ways and aesthetic expressive styles after they have been adopted by literary text, how they participate in the generating and construction process of contemporary Chinese literature and their distinctive modes of aesthetic expression employed by different writers. Moreover, narratives have centred on the writers or their works who have distinctively folk creative characteristics or relatively typical problems, for the sake of examining and sorting out the motivations, experience and resources of contemporary Chinese literature again. Specially, the research features and significance of 野Archetypal Folk Criticism冶 developed within the scope of contemporary Chinese literature are as follows. First, different from 野Archetypal Literary Criticism冶 of the West that puts a particular em- phasis on the recurring function of 野Archetypes冶, 野Archetypal Folk Criticism冶窑86 窑 New Explorations of Archetypal Folk Criticism: Explanations for a few Theoretical Issues of the Research Subject 野Contemporary Chinese Literature and Folk Culture冶 attaches more importance to the innovative functions and impetus of 野Archetypes冶, otherwise the latter will fail to explain why 野Archetypes冶 can un- dergo displacement in the contemporary era as well as the significance and value of 野Archetypal Displacement.冶野Why did Vico emphasize the recurring function of archetypes more than their generating and innovative functions? Despite the fact that archetypes mean constantly recurring symbols or motifs, their generating function is of equal importance or even greater importance, because it爷s both a kind of standard and an open space. There are always possibilities in the open space where each poet is in his proper place. An archetype seems to be more a womb than an embryo, because the womb only breeds life rather than determines life. Moreover, possessing unique vitality and inherent qualities, the thing bred by the womb is not equal to the womb,冶 according to Wang Yichuan, who criticizes Giambattista Vico爷s theory of 野Archetypes冶.31 The 野unique vitality and inherent qualities冶 and formation mechanism in the contemporary era obviously serve as the important research content and purpose of 野Archetypal Folk Criticism冶. Sec- ond, treasuring local aesthetic consciousness is both the spiritual connotation of 野Archetypal Folk Criticism冶 of contemporary Chinese literature established by this research topic and the method, function and significance in the process of ex- plaining specific literary works by means of 野Archetypal Folk Criticism冶. More importantly, archetypal folk criticism has infiltrated the three research findings of this research topic. Although they differ in terms of the object of study and the research content, all of the them have applied theories and methods of 野Archety- pal Folk Criticism冶 to a certain degree, had a deep discussion of the relationship between folk culture and contemporary Chinese culture and shown the value, role and significance of folk culture in the history of contemporary Chinese literature. discusses the expressive forms and features of folk culture and literature in contemporary Chi- nese literature and the reason why folk culture and literature are involved in contemporary Chinese literature. mainly follows the theoretical definition of 野Folk Heroic Narra- tive冶 within the scope of the history of contemporary Chinese literature, the evolution of 野Folk Heroic Narrative冶 in the history of contemporary Chinese literature, the archetypal mode of 野Folk Heroic Narrative冶 in contemporary Chinese literature and the relationship between 野Folk Heroic Narrative冶 and Pingshu, thus further revealing that 野Folk Heroic Narrative冶, as a kind of aesthetic resources, has affected and enriched novel writing of the contemporary era. 窑87 窑 Critical Theory Vol.3 No.2

analyzes the dynamic mechanism of adapting traditional Chinese operas in 1949-1966, ex- plores the existing ways and aesthetic expressive styles of the content of folk culture in the process of adapting traditional Chinese operas and presents the deep-seated connotation of the elements of folk culture, the impact of those elements on establishing the texts of traditional Chinese dramas and the functions and value of adaptation paths, thus further elucidating and appreciating the artistic charm of traditional Chinese dramas. The common purpose and significance of the above research findings are as follows. First, to date the research on contemporary Chinese literature has especially attached great importance to Western culture and literature and the impact of Western culture and literature on the thoughts of modernity and relatively over looked the impact of local folk culture on the history of contemporary Chinese literature. Conducting in-depth studies of the relationship between folk culture and contemporary Chinese literature can not only enable us to have access to a variety of different works of literature but also help us further understand the relations among the nativeness, nationality and cosmopolitanism of contemporary Chinese literature. Second, scrutinizing the history of contemporary literature once more from the perspective of folk culture, we爷ll have a chance of giving brand new explanations of specific writers and works, enriching the connotations of those works through scrutinizing and showing that folk culture serves as the important spiritual and aesthetic resources of contemporary Chinese literature. Moreover, the beneficial content of in folk culture can provide the local cultural force for intellectuals and the abundant substances of folk culture are dealing with certain new problems appearing in contemporary Chinese culture and literature. Since China is now involved in the increasing globalization and integration of the world, we should assimilate and activate national culture and folk traditions of of excellence and give impetus to updating cultural life, thus propelling folk culture into a revival.

1 Carl Gustav Jung. (1977). The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious, in ed. in , Princeton: Princeton University Press, pp. 43-45. 2 James George Frazer. (1922). , New York: Macmillan USA, p.315. 3 Ernst Cassirer. (1943). , New Haven: Yale University, pp. 109-10. 4 周大鸣主编，《二十一世纪人类学》，北京：民族出版社，2003 年，第 33 页. 5 叶舒宪选编，《神话———原型批评》，西安：陕西师范大学出版社，1987 年，第 15 页. 窑88 窑 New Explorations of Archetypal Folk Criticism: Explanations for a few Theoretical Issues of the Research Subject 野Contemporary Chinese Literature and Folk Culture冶

6 Ibid.,p.16-17. 7 Ibid.,p.20. 8 Ibid.,p.20-21. 9 鲁迅，《中国小说史略》，北京：北京大学出版社，2009 年，第 12 页. 10 茅盾，《中国神话研究初探》，上海：上海古籍出版社，2005 年，第 3、8 页. 11 钟敬文，《钟敬文文集：民俗学卷》，合肥：安徽教育出版社，1999 年，第 220－221 页. 12 高瑞泉编选，《理性与人道———周作人文选》，上海：上海远东出版社，1994 年，第 83 页. 13 黄景春，《民间传说》，北京：中国社会出版社，2006 年，第 1 页. 14 刘守华主编，《中国民间故事类型研究》，武汉：华中师范大学出版社，2002 年，第 2 页. 15 参见王光东，《“民间原型”主题批评的可能性———兼评几部长篇小说》，《文艺争鸣》 2009 年第 12 期. 16 Ibid.. 17 洪子诚：《中国当代文学史》，北京：北京大学出版社，1999 年，第 12 页. 18 萨支山：《试论五十至七十年代“农村题材”长篇小说———以〈三里湾〉、〈山乡巨变〉、〈创业史〉为中心》，《文学评论》2001 年第 3 期. 19 关于周立波小说的民间文化形态及其美学意义的分析论述，详见王光东，《民间的意义》，长春：吉林出版集团有限责任公司，2009 年，第 57－60 页. 20 周恩来，《关于戏曲改革工作的指示》，《人民音乐》1951 年第 2 卷第 4 期. 21 田汉，《从“一出戏救活了一个剧种”谈起》，《人民日报》，1956 年 5 月 18 日. 22 笔者注：这是指普通民众在与统治阶层直接交涉时总体的实际状况，但并不能否认民间有时会以另一种形式行使自己的话语权，譬如通过各种民间文艺形式的创作与传播等. 23 陈思和主编，《中国当代文学史教程》，上海：复旦大学出版社，1999 年，第 122 页. 24 张庚，《向〈十五贯〉的成功经验学习———谈〈十五贯〉的剧本整理》，《张庚戏剧论文集（1949－1958）》，北京：中国社会科学出版社，1981 年，第 222 页. 25 关于“民间文化形态与 1980 年代小说”的分析论述，详见王光东，《民间的意义》，第 63－81 页. 26 关于“民间文化形态与 1990 年代小说”的分析论述，详见 1.王光东：《民间与启蒙 -- 关于九十年代民间争鸣问题的思考》，《当代作家评论》2000 年第 5 期；2. 王光东：《“民间原型”主题批评的可能性———兼评几部长篇小说》，《文艺争鸣》2009 年第 12 期. 27 关于“新世纪小说与民间想象”的分析论述，详见王光东：《“民间想象原型”与近三十年小说创作》，《当代作家评论》2010 年第 1 期. 28 陈思和教授从描述文学史的角度出发，认为民间概念包括以下层面：1.它是在国家权力控制相对薄弱的领域产生的，保存了相对自由活泼的形式，能够比较真实地表达出民问社会生活的面貌和下层人民的情绪世界；2.自由自在是它最基本的审美风格，在一个牛命力普遍受到压抑的文明社会里，（自由自在）这种境界的最高表现只能是审美的，所以，它往往是文学艺术产生的源泉；3.它既然拥有民间宗教、哲学、文学艺

窑89 窑 Critical Theory Vol.3 No.2

术的传统背景．用政治术语说，民主性的精华和封建性的糟粕交杂在一起．构成了藏污纳垢的独特形态。参见《陈思和自选集》，桂林：广西师范大学出版社，1997 年，第 207、208 页. 29 周作人，《中国民歌的价值》，《歌谣》周刊第 1 卷 6 号，1923 年 1 月 21 日. 30 对于“民间”概念的分析阐述，详见王光东等，《20 世纪中国文学与民间文化》，上海：复旦大学出版社，2007 年，第 1－8 页. 31 王一川，《意义的瞬间生成———西方体验美学的超越性结构》，济南：山东文艺出版社，1988 年，第 144 页.

Alan Dundes. (1984 ). , New York: Columbia University Press.

Carl Gustav Jung. (1977). , Princeton: Princeton Universi- ty Press.

Herman Northrop Frye. (1971) , Princeton: Princeton University Press.

James George Frazer, , New York: Macmillan USA, 1922.

陈思和著.《中国新文学整体观》. 上海：上海文艺出版社，2001 年.

陈思和主编.《中国当代文学史教程》. 上海：复旦大学出版社，1999 年.

程金城著.《西方原型美学问题研究》. 哈尔滨：黑龙江人民出版社，2007 年.

傅道彬著. 《晚唐钟声－中国文学的原型批评》（修订本）. 北京：北京大学出版社，2007 年.

高有鹏著.《中国现代民间文学史论》. 开封：河南大学出版社，2004 年.

洪子诚著.《中国当代文学史》. 北京：北京大学出版社，1999 年.

胡志毅著.《神话与仪式：戏剧的原型阐释》. 上海：学林出版社，2001 年.

李杨著.《50－70 年代中国文学经典再解读》. 济南：山东教育出版社，2003 年.

刘守华主编.《中国民间故事类型研究》. 武汉：华中师范大学出版社，2002 年.

窑90 窑 New Explorations of Archetypal Folk Criticism: Explanations for a few Theoretical Issues of the Research Subject 野Contemporary Chinese Literature and Folk Culture冶

罗兴萍著.《民间英雄叙事与“十七年”英雄叙事小说》.桂林：广西师范大学出版社，2012 年.

王光东著.《朴素之约》. 济南：山东文艺出版社，2004 年.

王光东等著.《20 世纪中国文学与民间文化》. 上海：复旦大学出版社，2007 年.

王光东著.《民间的意义》. 长春：吉林出版集团有限责任公司，2009 年.

王光东，陈小碧著.《民间原型与新时期以来的小说创作———1976 年至 2009 年文学与民间文化关系研究》. 桂林：广西师范大学出版社，2012 年.

王一川著.《意义的瞬间生成———西方体验美学的超越性结构》. 济南：山东文艺出版社， 1988 年.

吴光正著.《中国古代小说的原型与母题》. 北京：社会科学文献出版社，2002 年.

叶舒宪选编.《神话———原型批评》. 西安：陕西师范大学出版社，1987 年.

周福岩著.《民间故事的伦理思想研究：以耿村故事文本为对象》. 北京：中国社会科学出版社，2006 年.

周涛著.《民间文化与“十七年”戏曲改编》. 桂林：广西师范大学出版社，2012 年.

窑91 窑