A. image series of "old-school citizens":
There are mainly Ma Lao (Erma), Zhang Dage (divorced), Niu Laosi (biography of Niu Tianci), Qi Laoye, Qi Tianyou, Qi Ruixuan (four generations under one roof) and so on.
This is the most profound and successful image in Lao She's citizen image series. The characteristics of these images are: Although they live in cities, they are only a part of "rural China" and "country people" living in cities. The city people/country people mentioned here are not their concept of household registration, but show their cultural symbols. Theoretically speaking, cities and villages represent modernity and conservatism, so although some people live in cities, their cultural essence is not urbanized, that is to say, they have not accepted the influence of modern ideas in cities, but stubbornly continue the traditional ideas of native China. They are burdened with heavy feudal patriarchal ideology, and their attitudes and lifestyles are very "old-fashioned" and conservative and closed.
The old horse in "Two Horses" is a slave image, superstitious, moderate, careless, lazy, muddling along ... This character shows a similar character to Ah Q, (note the comparison with Lu Xun: country/city; Completely negative or even extreme/gentle, critical, nostalgic; Genre painting/omnibearing)
Brother Zhang in Divorce is content with the status quo and sticks to the rules. He kept a well-off life carefully and was afraid of all "changes". His mission and duty is to "be a matchmaker and oppose divorce", because he thinks that divorce is the destruction of the existing order, and his lifelong career is to reconcile contradictions and "make do" with life. This philosophy of life and cultural concept extended from the concept of marriage is closed and self-sufficient. Of course, the final failure was actually the bankruptcy of the "sons and daughters of old China" who followed the mediocre conservative philosophy and the tragedy that they wanted to obey their fate.
In Four Generations under One roof, the "essence" of Beijing's citizen culture is concentrated on Qi, an old man who timidly avoids politics and all disputes. Even when he went to Beijing that day, he blocked the door of his home and prepared food and pickles. Still preparing for my birthday; Still don't forget "etiquette"; (P74) "He will have a holiday on holidays and worship his ancestors on New Year's Day". He has no extravagant hopes, just wants to live a life without food and clothing. His highest ideal is to spend his old age safely and reunite with his family. Even ridiculous, I think the Japanese aggression is a secret love for the lion of Lugouqiao, because the Japanese love to take advantage of small things.
It should be noted that Qi Ruixuan in Four Generations under One Family mentioned in the textbook also belongs to the old-school citizen image. This image is very similar to the image of Chueh-hsin in Ba Jin's Home. Although they are different from the old school in age and knowledge structure, they are burdened with more traditional elements because of their different family roles and identities (the eldest son), so they often show sharp contradictions and are troubled by modern consciousness and traditional thoughts. At the moment of national disaster, he can realize the responsibility of doing his best for the country, but he has to bear the burden of humiliation. He encouraged and supported his younger brother to leave and join the anti-Japanese struggle, but he could not go with him and had to stay "filial". He is like a pendulum in the old and new cultures. He must swing evenly from left to right to make time run smoothly and accurately. Qi Ruixuan's contradiction and pain lies in the fact that he can't have both loyalty and filial piety, but the essence is the inner cultural conflict, and he can only drag out an ignoble existence in the contradiction.
For these "old-school citizens" images, the author mainly criticizes the backwardness of traditional culture by revealing the mental illness of the characters, and also writes the historical process of these weaknesses being transformed in social change.
The author's attitude towards them reflects the criticism of traditional civilization. This criticism is mainly manifested in the criticism of our conservative, backward and closed attitude and lifestyle, and the exposure and criticism of national weaknesses. However, Lao She's critical attitude is different from that of Lu Xun. He is not so paranoid and sharp-edged, not radical and not keeping up with the trend. At the same time, he also held a very cautious and even exclusive attitude towards western capitalist civilization.
B. "new citizen" image series:
There are mainly Zhang Tianzhen (divorced), Lan Xiaoshan, Ding John, Qi Ruifeng, Guan (four generations under one roof) and so on.
The description of the new school characters mainly describes their vanity, shallowness and depravity, which contains reflection and criticism of western civilization, including the new wave introduced after the May 4th Movement. The author's description of such images is comic irony. Therefore, the author of this kind of image is very ironic.
This is different from the author's attitude towards the old-school citizens. For the latter, Lao She has both criticism and sympathy. Although some are tragic and some have strong ambivalence, the characters' personalities and psychology are very distinct, which shows the author's ambivalence. For the former, the author's contempt and disdain attitude is very clear. Traditional civilization has been lost in their hands, and their moral anomie and value confusion are mainly reflected in these westernized figures. Although this criticism is superficial and inevitably tends to be typed, it contains both his criticism of traditional civilization and his loss, reflection and anger at western civilization.
C. Image series of "decent citizens" (ideal citizens):
Mainly (Lao Zhang's philosophy), Zhao Jingchun (), Li (Er Ma) and Mr. Ding (divorced).
This image often reflects Lao She's tendency to traditional morality. Lao She often shows the cultural variation and differentiation in the process of urban capitalism in his description of new citizens, but he did not give up his ideal pursuit, which is reflected in the ideal citizens he created. Of course, the main purpose is to find a way out for China's cultural transformation, so cultural criticism and cultural choice have some enlightening colors, which can also be compared with Lu Xun.
From the cultural standpoint, Lao She's ideal citizen is based on traditional morality. Generally speaking, it shows the image of "chivalrous man and doer". A chivalrous man who fights violence with violence and values harmony (Wang De in Lao Zhang's philosophy, Qian Yinqiu in Four Generations under One roof, etc. ) has the moral strength of China culture (such as the image of God Blessed Lady and Mei Yun in Four Generations under One roof). ) national character and integrity, become the embodiment of Lao She's ideal.
The images of the old-school citizens and the new-school citizens in Lao She's works, the connotation of which lies in placing an ideal of Lao She, which is the result of Lao She's persistent pursuit of the ideal after being disappointed with the old-school citizens and the new-school citizens. He hopes that these decent citizens who are "chivalrous and doers" can sweep away the harm for the society and make his works have a "happy ending". Of course, this also shows the mediocrity and naivety of the author's thoughts.
D. image series of "urban poor":
There are mainly foreign coachman Xiangzi, old horse, prostitute Huanxi (camel Xiangzi), old patrolman (my life), boxer Sha Zilong (broken soul gun), foreign coachman Xiao Cui, barber (four generations under one roof) and artist Fang (drummer).
This image series embodies the deep connection between Lao She and the lower class.
In this image series, the theme of the author's criticism and rejection of capitalist civilization also runs through. "Crescent Moon" shows the lives of two generations of fireworks women and their daughters, which is a tragedy of two cultural concepts. The contradiction between the mother's life experience of "hunger is the greatest truth" and her daughter's trendy ideas of "sacred love" and "freedom of marriage" is the interpretation of different cultures in the same environment. But in the end, the author's performance ended in her daughter's trendy bankruptcy and moved closer to her mother. In this way, Lao She made his own unique judgment on the so-called personality liberation in western civilization. In a society without the right to exist, love can only be a business when the poor are hungry. Daughter's tragedy shows the author's criticism of western civilization. The connotation of the image of the poor, on the one hand, runs through the author's criticism and rejection of western civilization, and even includes the theme of western bourgeois personality liberation since the May 4th Movement; On the other hand, from the perspective of the relationship between urban civilization and human nature, it reflects the author's understanding of China's urban society in the 1920s and 1930s, as well as his concern and sympathy for the lower working people.
Analysis of Camel Xiangzi (paying attention to the multiple meanings of Xiangzi's tragedy)
In previous general comments, Xiangzi's fate was ups and downs, because as a small producer, he wanted to realize his modest ideal, which reflected his simple and peaceful life ideal, but the tragedy that could not be realized in social reality was caused by society. In this sense, we can see the dark picture of China urban society in the 1920s and 1930s.
However, if we go deeper into cultural analysis, we can easily find that this is a bankrupt farmer who is constantly becoming a citizen in the city, and then thrown into the ranks of rogue proletarians, constantly experiencing spiritual destruction. In this sense, we can further study the relationship between urban civilization and human nature. The fate of appearance is the tragedy of moral degeneration and spiritual corrosion experienced by a simple young man from the countryside in modern urban civilization. In On the Realism of Xiangzi Camel, Fan Jun clearly stated that "Xiangzi was deprived not only of his car and savings, but also of his virtue as a laborer, his will to progress and his purpose in life". The focus of the novel is his "spiritual destruction", which is the physical and mental destruction and torture of the characters.
This is the concentrated expression of Lao She's general theme of "criticizing national weakness".
Xiangzi's image is that of an individual struggler. In the process of urbanization, he is constantly corroded by money, so he will form his own inherent shortcomings: unsociable, clumsy, selfish, trying to make money, (P79), so he is lonely and fragile, and finally completely succumbs to fate, step by step towards the abyss of depravity. For Xiangzi, his environment is a deformed environment of interpersonal relationships, people and car factories-tigress; A complex-Er Hadron; White House-Joy; Every point that constitutes the trajectory of Xiangzi's life, every abnormal human relationship and human nature distortion, makes Xiangzi constantly approach hell. In the end, he can only sink, and he can only complete his ultimate fate in indulgence and depravity.
In fact, Lao She's works show his cultural examination from two aspects, namely, the "desire" in urban civilization-lust and property greed; And the "ugliness" in urban interpersonal relationships-selfishness, greed, numbness, metamorphosis ... This shows the author's concern about the harm that urban civilization brings to human nature.
The key point is the relationship between "city and people", that is, the "conflict" between urban civilization disease and human nature. In Lao She's view, Xiangzi's tragedy lies in the harm of pathological urban civilization to human nature, so in this novel, Lao She looks at the city from the perspective of a rickshaw driver (Xiangzi). Therefore, while criticizing, the author tries to? This paper discusses the root of the disease of modern civilization from the perspective of moral examination.