This thesis studies fictional narratives of the countryside by writers of rural origin in
English and Chinese literature in relation to the "countryside ideal." The term, borrowed from
Michael Bunce, describes an ancient as well as modern theme in literature, which sees the
countryside as a desirable "home." The conventional construction of the countryside by urban
writers sustains this ideal with simplistic and static images. My thesis extends the discussion
beyond the idyllic countryside in the mainstream of Anglo-American culture and the genteel
culture in China to concentrate on Thomas Hardy (1840-1928), Shen Congwen (1902-1988),
and Mo Yan (b. 1956), who all have personal relations with the countryside and who enrich
its image with accounts of actual life, reconnecting it to authentic home place.
I discuss fictional narratives of the rural homelands of the three writers not as
unmediated transcriptions but as cultural constructs, which are shaped by different literary
traditions and responsive to specific historical contexts. My approach is mainly text-based,
but supplemented by references to each writer's cultural and historical contexts. The
Introduction situates these writers and their rural homelands in relation to the specific interest
in the countryside in each writer's cultural milieu. Chapter One reads Hardy's reconstruction of
the countryside in light of the struggle for existence in a Darwinian natural world. Hardy's
sombre-looking rural landscapes highlight the complex difficulties of rural life and the moral
and intellectual qualities required to survive in such a world. Chapter Two studies Shen
Congwen's justification of rural culture in the midst of nationalist aspirations for
globalization. His multi-layered fictionalization of the rural homeland centres on the image
of water, a root symbol of Chinese culture, merging traditional Chinese culture with
modernist vitalism. Chapter three examines Mo Yan's reconstruction of the rural homeland
after the severe disruption of Chinese culture during the Mao era. Mo Yan's magic realist
reconstruction testifies to the repression of the genius loci of his rural homeland by politics
and expresses a desire to be reconnected with the original homeland through sensual bonds
rather than detached observations.
These writers' narratives redefine the countryside in relation to "home" as a centre for
meaningful activities. The fact that they reappropriate and situate rural life and work in
specific cultural traditions and diverse forms of modernity is manifested in their unique and
irreplaceable literary constructions. I will offset Hardy's writing against that of the two
Chinese writers, in order to clarify their rich and diverse cultural implications. Whereas Hardy
subjects his fictional rural landscape to a scientific approach, Shen Congwen reconfirms
traditional Chinese culture, linking it with the ideals of the May Fourth movement for renewal
and revitalization. Mo Yan, for his part, combines the rural perspective and faith in the land
with a modernist use of magic realism. Fictionalizations of the rural homeland thus reveal
complex interactions with modernity. / Arts, Faculty of / English, Department of / Graduate
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UBC/oai:circle.library.ubc.ca:2429/10781 |
| Date | 05 1900 |
| Creators | He, Donghui |
| Source Sets | University of British Columbia |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, Thesis/Dissertation |
| Format | 13686314 bytes, application/pdf |
| Rights | For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use. |
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