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Contradiction and Predicament: The Ethnic Ideology and National Notion of Lu Xun

Author: SongJie
Tutor: WangBenChao
School: Southwestern University
Course: Contemporary Chinese Literature
Keywords: Lu Xun ethnic ideology national notion enlightenment ideology democratic republic
CLC: I210
Type: Master's thesis
Year: 2010
Downloads: 203
Quote: 0
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Abstract

The Chinese modern ethnic ideology and national notion are always created with double anxiety affected by train of local nationalism thought and national mechanism. After the Opium War, and triggered by its following disgrace, the ethnic ideology and national notion began to come into the thought and version of Chinese intellectuals. Chinese intellectuals made reasonable and tough choice between the binary opposition shown by traditional local China in western modern nation states. However, the self-identity of national status makes them bear certain ethnic ideology beyond sense. Chinese people, including the enlightener, lack national notion in modern sense, which therefore disenables formation of a whole and unitive patriotic sprit. Unprecedented critics sustained by traditional culture taken for ethnic condensation product force enlighteners to make up for their logical defect embarrassedly while they show their flag of nationalism. As the focus of didacticism, individual became less important and even a tool under the double missions of saving the nation from extinction and struggling for survival as well as constructing modern nation state. In western nation states, these amplified freedom and equality do not exist legally, which causes the Chinese people under the flag of didacticism to submit to obscure ethnic ideology and national notion and become the ruled under their autocrat. Among numerous enlighteners, Lu Xun has his special reorganization on several problems of nation and state.Lu Xun’s ethnic ideology and national notion have many different dimensions. He applies the proposition of culture to unfold narration on problems of nation and state, and resolves all problems efficiently, searching for answers with a method of historic experience and self-observe. This multidimensional ethnic ideology supports his thought all his life, and it is fulfilled of his eager expect for Chinese modern nation state construction and the human in real sense. In Lu Xun’s consciousness, the word "nation" is not born with some western modern elements. He traces from the formed concept and digs out discourse mechanism behind it to expose myriad contradiction of it in real society, instead of introducing it immediately from the West like other intellectuals. In a qualified sense, his concept of nation not only resists against traditional culture rationally, but also sizes up modern civilization rigorously. Lu Xun’s national notion is not only the idealism for constructing nation state, but the existentialism based on real world.This thesis includes four parts. The first part gives brief introduction of the cause of modern Chinese ethnic ideology rise and national notion formation, and discriminates concepts of "nation" and "state" used by Chinese traditional society at certain degree. It draws out the complicated and embarrassed situation of Chinese intellectuals’constructing nation state under enlightenment ideology, by checking and ratifying modern western nation state as well as its modernity characteristic.Chapter one emphasized on discussing on the multidimensionality of Lu Xun’s ethnic ideology. His ethnic ideology is shown through his attitude on problems about "Liren" and transformation of civility. Under extension of this issue, his enlightenment thought turns into the biggest barrier to his ethnic ideology. It is because in the disordered space-time social context, that his enlightenment thought cannot get rid of ethnic ideological restriction. In colonial context, collision between Chinese and Western cultures unfolds his ethnic ideology at this level and initiates a sense of ethnic guilty accompanying his last ten-year experience in concession.Chapter two discusses on Lu Xun’s multidimensional version of national notion. His national notion concentrates his method of identity on Republic of China and his attitude on democratic republican national mechanism. It focuses on Lu Xun’s potential but deep national notion through plastic of Republic of China on his national notion, his critics on nationalistic patriotic notion and illumination of warlords’domination disintegrating national notion.The conclusion goes on with discussion on the real intension of Lu Xun’s ethnic ideology and national notion. His ethnic ideology and national notion are set up in a broken way and binding the mission of Chinese constructing nation state together by the thought of "Liren", which co-become two essential elements under his human-centered ideology.

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