How to Understand Western Modern Literature

In a broad sense, modern literature refers to a series of literary schools produced in the context of the modern world. These literary schools usually pay attention to human existence, social reality, cultural differences, scientific and technological progress, and try to solve these problems through literature. Modern literature in a broad sense included but was not limited to the following schools: 1. Modern literature: A series of literary schools represented by structuralism, symbolism, and post-modernism emphasize the materiality and formal structure of literature. Realist literature: A series of literary schools represented by positivistic and social criticism emphasize the realism and criticism of literature. 3. Expressionism literature: A series of literary schools represented by expressionism and cubism emphasize the subjective nature of literature and the exaggeration of form. 4. Romanticism literature: A series of literary schools represented by romanticism and realism emphasize the emotional and authenticity of literature. 5. A series of literary schools represented by the theories of the socialists and the commoners emphasized the political nature and ideology of literature. Modern literature in a broad sense is a broad concept that covers many different literary schools. These literary schools all attempt to explore human existence, social reality, cultural differences and other issues in the context of the modern.

Modern Chinese literature is an important part of Chinese literature. Its content has experienced a long historical evolution and continuous innovation. Before the 20th century, Chinese literature had experienced a long period of feudalism and imperialism until the May 4th Movement in 1919 marked the rise of the New Culture Movement and the birth of modern Chinese literature. In the 20th century, modern Chinese literature experienced two waves. The first was the new literature movement, which was represented by Lu Xun, Mao Dun, Lao She, etc. Their works emphasized social reality and human nature and opposed feudalism and imperialism. The second wave was represented by Ye Shengtao, Zhu Ziqing, Zheng Zhenduo, etc. Their works emphasized the spirit of humanity and humanism, advocating new culturalism and socialism. In the 21st century, modern Chinese literature has made great progress and innovation in the field of thought and literary form. Modern, post-modern, cultural humanities, cultural constructions and other trends of thought were widely used in Chinese literature. At the same time, modern Chinese literature also paid attention to contemporary society and people's lives, environmental protection, cultural multiculturalism, human relations and other topics. The content of modern Chinese literature is rich and colorful. It reflects the thinking, reflection and exploration of the Chinese people in history, culture and society. It has distinct characteristics of the times and regions.

Modern Chinese literature is a literary system with a long history and rich content. Its content can be understood from many aspects. First of all, the development of modern Chinese literature has gone through many stages, from the early revolutionary propaganda and realism literature to the middle of the modern and post-modern literature, and then to the modern realism, symbolism, realism and post-modern literature. These different literary schools and styles reflected the variety and complexity of modern Chinese literature in terms of ideology, culture, society, and history. Secondly, the theme and content of modern Chinese literature were also very rich and colorful, covering history, society, love, friendship, family, human nature, nature, and many other aspects. From the early revolutionary theme and realism literature to the middle social theme and modernist literature, then to the modern individually and romanticism literature, the theme and content of modern Chinese literature have been constantly changing, and at the same time, it also reflects the development and progress of modern Chinese society. Finally, the language style of modern Chinese literature was also an important aspect of its content. The language styles of modern literature are diverse. There are traditional Chinese language styles, modern English, French, German and other language styles. These changes in language style reflected the diverse and innovative nature of modern Chinese literature in terms of language, culture and aesthetics. Therefore, modern Chinese literature is a literary system with rich, diverse and complex contents. Its nature reflects the variety and progress of modern Chinese society, culture and thought, and also reflects the innovation and development of modern Chinese literature in language, theme and content.

Modern Chinese literature is an important period in the history of Chinese literature, and its nature can be understood from many angles. First of all, modern Chinese literature was produced in the context of the Chinese revolution and construction, and it had experienced the evolution of various schools and thoughts from realism to realism, from realism to humanism. During this period, Chinese literature focused on reflecting social life and the sufferings of the people, paying attention to the description of social changes and the fate of the people, and also reflecting and criticizing Chinese traditional culture and values. Secondly, modern Chinese literature had distinct characteristics of the times and national spirit. During this period, Chinese literature profoundly reflected the social changes and people's living conditions in China, and also showed the inheritance and promotion of Chinese traditional culture and national spirit. In the literature, the Chinese people showed their tenacious vitality and fighting spirit, and also expressed their pursuit of internalism and humanism. Moreover, modern Chinese literature had also experienced many literary movements and literary schools. For example, the New Culture Movement, literary realism, modernism, expressionism, post-modernism, and other different literary schools and thoughts were born and flourished during this period. These literary schools and thoughts not only reflected the living conditions and values of the Chinese society and people at that time, but also had a profound impact on world literature. To sum up, the nature of modern Chinese literature has the characteristics of the times, national spirit and literary schools. Its creation and performance also reflect the struggle, innovation and pursuit of the Chinese people in history and social change.

Modern Chinese literature experienced a drastic change. From the 1920s, with the rise of the New Culture Movement, literature began to accept the influence of Western ideas and began to explore new literary forms and subjects such as vernacular novels, poems, essays, etc. In the 1930s, modern Chinese literature entered a period of prosperity, and many excellent literary works appeared, such as Lu Xun, Mao Dun, Lao She, etc. In the 1940s, due to the influence of war and political turmoil, literature began to turn to realism, and many literary works describing social reality appeared, such as Ding Ling, Ling Yu, etc. In the 1950s, modern Chinese literature began to decline. Due to the influence of political movements and ideologies, many of them were banned or forced to be removed from the shelves. However, some excellent literary works survived, such as Ba Jin, Lao She, Shen Congwen, etc. Since the 1980s, modern Chinese literature has been revitalized again, and many excellent literary works have appeared, such as Mo Yan, Yu Hua, Jia Pingwa, etc. They have explored new literary forms and subjects, such as magical realism, black humor, etc., and also reflected the living conditions of contemporary society and the voices of the people. Modern Chinese literature is a literature that has undergone drastic changes. It has gone through many periods and different literary forms. It reflects the social and people's conditions in different periods, and also reflects the development and changes of Chinese culture.

Western modern literature had a profound influence on modern Chinese literature. In the early 20th century, modern western literature began to have a great influence on China. From the 1920s to the 1930s, modern Chinese literature began to be influenced by modern western literature. For example, Lu Xun's literary works were influenced by Russian literature and French literature, and the concept of modern appeared in his novels. In the 1940s, modern Chinese literature began to become independent and gradually formed its own style and theoretical system. At this time, the influence of modern western literature began to weaken, but there was still some. For example, Lao She's literary works reflected elements of modernism. The influence of modern western literature still existed in modern literature. Some of Mo Yan's literary works incorporated elements of magical realism. At the same time, the thoughts and ideas of modern western literature also influenced the creation of modern Chinese literature. For example, the concept of reflecting on the modern appeared in modern Chinese literature.

There are many schools of modern western literature. The following are some of the main schools: 1. Realist literature: emphasizing the realism and objectiveness of the characters and describing real and credible life scenes. The representatives were France's Hugo and England. 2. Romanticism literature: emphasizing emotion and imagination to reflect social reality by describing the feelings and emotions in the depths of one's heart. The representatives were Germany and Russia. 3. Modern literature: emphasizing criticism and reflection to explore the nature and significance of human existence. The representatives were the United States and the United Kingdom. 4. Postmodernist literature: By criticizing and questioning the literary tradition of the past, explore the nature and significance of contemporary society and culture. Representative figures included America, England, and so on. 5. Symbolism literature: to convey emotions and thoughts through symbols and symbols, emphasizing the abstract and symbolic meaning of language. The representatives were Spain and France. 6. feminism literature: pay attention to the situation and rights of women and explore the issues of gender discrimination and oppression. The representatives were Atwood from England and Woolf from America. Science fiction: Through fictional stories and technological imagination, explore the future and the impact of technology on society. Representative figures included the United States, Asimoff, and the United Kingdom, Clark. 8. Horror literature: Through the description of horror and horror scenes to convey emotions and thoughts, it has a strong visual impact and psychological shock. Representative figures included Faulkner from the United States and Llosa from the United Kingdom.

Western modern literature was a genre of 20th-century literature that originated in Europe in the early 20th century. The main characteristic of this school was that it opposed the traditional literary norms and rules and pursued the innovation and freedom of literary forms. Western modernist literature mainly included the following types of works: 1. Realist literature: This genre of literature focuses on realism and objectively reflects the pain and contradictions of human beings by describing social reality. Representatives, Faulkner, Marquez, and so on. 2. Modern literature: This genre of literature emphasized the inner world and contradictions of individuals, focusing on the tightness and tension of the plot. Representative, Marquez, etc. 3. Post-modern literature: This literary school further emphasized the nihility and absurdity of literature on the basis of modern literature. Representative, Yu Hua, etc. 4. Female literature: This genre of literature focuses on women's lives and destinies and probes into the problems of feminism. Representative Atwood, Christina Bell, etc. The characteristics and representatives of the western modern literature could be obtained by reading relevant literature and searching for them.

When reading modern Chinese literature texts, one can use western theories such as cultural humanities, semiotics, grammar, psychology and other theories to analyze and understand the symbolic meaning, cultural background, character psychology and language habits in the text. The theory of cultural folklore can help to understand the social and cultural elements in modern Chinese literature. For example, modern Chinese literature often had such topics as 'socialism',' anti-imperialist and anti-feudalism 'that could be analyzed as reflecting the changes and transformations of Chinese society and cultural values at that time. The theory of semiotics can help to understand the symbol system and symbolic meaning in modern Chinese literature. For example, the symbolic techniques often used in modern Chinese literature, such as "white dove" and "peace", could be analyzed as representing the Chinese people's yearning and pursuit for peace and a better life. The theory of language can help to understand the language expression and pronunciation changes in modern Chinese literature. For example, the dialect and oral expressions that often appear in modern Chinese literature can be analyzed as reflecting the differences and varieties of society and culture at that time. Psychological theories can help to understand the psychology and behavior of characters in modern Chinese literature. For example, the inner conflicts and psychological states of the characters often depicted in modern Chinese literature can be analyzed as reflecting the psychological contradictions and psychological states of the people at that time. In short, when using Western theories to analyze modern Chinese literature texts, it is necessary to combine specific texts and analyze them from multiple perspectives to explore and understand.

The following methods can be used to interpret modern Chinese literature texts with Western theories: 1. Analyzing the historical background and social environment of modern Chinese literature. Understanding the emergence and development of modern Chinese literature, as well as the historical, political, and cultural environment at that time, will help us better understand the meaning and extension of modern literature. 2. Using modern literary theories and analysis methods such as modern doctrine, post-modern doctrine, cultural analysis, gender analysis, political analysis, etc. to analyze and interpret modern literary texts. These theoretical analysis methods can provide us with a more in-depth and comprehensive perspective to understand modern literary texts. Thirdly, we should learn from the research methods of western modern literature, such as literature research, comparison research, cross-cultural research, etc., to carry out cross-cultural communication and comparison of modern Chinese literature texts to explore the differences and commonalities of literary creation under different cultural backgrounds. 4. Combining the actual characteristics of modern Chinese literature, using the perspective of local culture to interpret modern literature texts. Modern literary texts often have distinct characteristics of the times and regions, so we can better understand and grasp the meaning and extension of modern literary texts from the perspective of local culture. It should be noted that the interpretation of modern literary texts requires the comprehensive use of a variety of methods and theories, and maintain an open and diverse mind to avoid over-interpretation or over-rejection of certain perspectives.