Welcome to Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art,

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art ›› 2023, Vol. 43 ›› Issue (6): 82-90.

• Issue in Focus: Modern and Contemporary Literary Theory and Cultural Studies • Previous Articles     Next Articles

From “Rewriting Lu Xun” to “Patricide”: Historical Investigation into and Reflection on Chinese American Scholars' Criticisms of Lu Xun

Li Shi   

  • Online:2023-11-25 Published:2023-12-18
  • About author:Li Shi, Ph.D., is an assistant professor at the Institute of Aesthetics and Literary Criticism, Shenzhen University. His research interests include overseas Chinese studies, critical theory and cultural studies.
  • Supported by:
    Youth Project of National Social Sciences Fund.

Abstract: Since the 1960s, Chinese American scholars' criticisms of Lu Xun have experienced a paradigm shift from aesthetic criticism and biographical criticism to deconstructive criticism, forming a homogeneous relationship with the development of American literary criticism. Especially from the 1990s onwards, under the influence of postmodernism and postcolonialism, Chinese American scholars have critically revisited the issue of “origin” and “totality”, which registers a general tendency of radical “patricide”. They strategically consider Lu Xun, “father of modern Chinese literature”, as a symbol of nationalism, and deconstruct Lu Xun's authorial intention with a skeptical stance, consequently reversing the power relations between writers and critics. Although the theoretical expansion of globalization continues to promote the theorization and diversification of Chinese American scholars' criticisms of Lu Xun, it also threatens to lead to the arbitrariness of critical power and other disadvantages such as overinterpretation, theoretical homogeneity and neglect of literary facts, which require critical reflection on the epistemological level.

Key words: American literary criticism, overseas studies of modern Chinese literature, Lu Xun, deconstructive criticism