Abstract
The article offers a reinterpretation of the nuanced relationship between Lu Xun's role as an “enlightener” and a “participant in life” as proposed by the Japanese scholar Takeuchi Yoshimi. It contends that, beyond his identity as a purely “literary” figure, Lu Xun's role as a “participant in life” significantly contributes to his stature as an “enlightener”. This perspective underscores Lu Xun's active engagement with tangible reality. His enlightenment was forged through an earnest immersion in the lived experience of Chinese society. He grappled with and contested these experiences, delving deeply in them before emerging with fresh insights into the issues surrounding enlightenment within the crucible of real life. The interplay between Juansheng and Zijun serves as a reflection of Lu Xun's contemplation of the environment in which enlightenment ideas were received and his examination of the subject of enlightenment. Concurrently, it provides a lens through which he scrutinizes the ethical conundrum and the crisis of alienation inherent in enlightenment thought during the post-May Fourth era, resulting in the intricate interplay of Juansheng's soliloquies and the text's complexity. The novella not only stands as an indispensable element within Lu Xun's narrative of enlightenment but also as an important practice of his renewed confrontation with the issues of enlightenment during the post-May Fourth era, all approached with the disposition of a “participant in life”.
Keywords
post-May Fourth, enlightenment, love, Lu Xun as a participant in life
First Page
40
Last Page
49
Recommended Citation
Yuan, Feng. 2024. "Enlightenment, Love and Lu Xun as a “Participant in Life” during the Post-May Fourth Era: Rereading “Regret for the Past” and Its Surroundings." Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art 44, (4): pp.40-49. https://tsla.researchcommons.org/journal/vol44/iss4/6
