Abstract
In his early career, Lu Xun participated in the ideological trend of qun (group) in the late Qing dynasty through poetics, and expressed his new understanding of the relationship between groups and individuals within this background. Some reformers carried on the tradition of poetry education, emphasizing the inherent function of literature on transferring affection and its political significance on the construction of groups. Lu Xun also emphasized affection, but criticized the idea about regulating poetry from external political perspectives. For this reason, he reinterpreted the tradition of “poetry expresses ideal” and argued that poetry is the free expression of human will. At the same time, Lu Xun did not oppose groups despite his admiration for individualism. Inspired by the poetics of Thomas Carlyle, he emphasized the emotional connection between poets and the masses, and thus pursued the mass awakening. Starting from the perceptual noumenon of life, Lu Xun highlighted literature’s “use of the useless”, which not only liberated the subjective initiative of readers, but also attempted to fundamentally realize the reform from individuals to groups.
First Page
31
Last Page
42
Recommended Citation
Sun, Yaotian. 2021. "Poetry, Politics, and Ethics: The Relationship between the Thought of Qun in the Late Qing Dynasty and Lu Xun’s Poetics in His Early Career." Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art 41, (6): pp.31-42. https://tsla.researchcommons.org/journal/vol41/iss6/12
