Author: SHI Mingwei, Doctoral Candidate, Center for research of Chinese New Literature of Nanjing University.
Abstract:
The question of space in Christian narratives of the May Fourth New Literature is one of the keys to unlocking the puzzle of why the modern enlightenment trend in China led toward the Anti-Christianity Movement. Unlike the study of Christian culture and the New Literature, the question of space is close to the philosophical background of Christian Theology. Looking back at the Christian narratives of the May Fourth New Literature, the “absolute” has moved toward the periphery, while the“love” has lost the place it once had and has fallen into disordered, individualized chaos, while personal love has attempted to replace God’s love, and the possibility of the construction of a community that transcends the ethics of consanguinity has lost a source in religion. In the face of Christian spirituality, the leaders of the May Fourth New Literature employed an arbitrary “take-all” strategy and a very spirit of practical application, which resulted in an exclusionary New Literature, and a “chaotic” spirituality. It is difficult for a religious spirit that has been selected and modified to exert any influence in the world. At the same time, Marxism set off a substantial ideological wave among the youth, the Anti-Christianity Movement was in full swing, a social consensus developed around the need to save the nation from subjugation and ensure its survival, and the cultural destiny of May Fourth literature was to cast spirituality to the margins.
Keywords:
May-Fourth New Literature, Christian Narratives, Space, Divinity, periphery
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