Abstract
In the 1920s, Chinese scholars, represented by Mao Dun, analyzed through reconstructive interpretation and extracted the referential value components via different routes of “naturalism”, ultimately shaping a more idealized literary model. This article examines a typical case of China's absorption of foreign literary concepts in the early twentieth century. Positioned retrospectively, Chinese scholars dynamically synthesized the theoretical resources and practical experiences of European and Japanese scholars, allowing the concept of naturalism to evolve and become a driving force for the development of local literary history. In conclusion, through the process of translation, citation, reference and restatement, the Chinese literary field witnessed the convergence, intertextualization, dissociation and re-exportation of European and Japanese experiences. Building upon these layered meanings, Chinese critics further advanced the methodological construction and dynamic conceptualization of naturalism.
Keywords
naturalism, conceptualization, Mao Dun, Europe and Japan, retrospective position
First Page
175
Last Page
184
Recommended Citation
Luo, Meng. 2025. "The Conceptualization of “Naturalism” in China in the 1920s: The Interaction between Gerog Brandes, Hougetsu Shimamura and Mao Dun." Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art 45, (2): pp.175-184. https://tsla.researchcommons.org/journal/vol45/iss2/17
