Three Theoretical Approaches to Rethinking the Theory of Literary Reflection in the New Era

Abstract

Abstract: The rethinking of the theory of literary reflection in the new era has always been accompanied by the purification of epistemology. It is easy to overlook the aesthetic, value and human dimensions of literature when it is dominated by epistemology, which treats it as a tool for describing reality. In the early 1980s, scholars mainly adopted three approaches to rethink the theory of literary reflection and the epistemology behind it, and achieved different theoretical results. The first approach is the clarification of principles, which mainly focuses on the theories of Karl Marx, Vladimir Lenin and Mao Zedong, transforming the theory of reflection smoothly from mechanical to active. The second approach highlights the aesthetic dimension of subjectivity in the system of knowledge reflection that pursues certainty, in order to realize the dialectical innovation of native discourses such as the theory of aesthetic reflection and aesthetic ideology. The third approach advocates for literature to completely break away from the epistemology that pursues objectivity and certainty, and turn to the dimension of subjectivity and value, in order to promote the leap forward of literary theory from objectivity to subjectivity. Sorting out various approaches to rethink the theory of literary reflection provides constructive suggestions to local literary theories from a theoretical level.

Key words: new era, theory, theory of literary reflection, theory of aesthetic reflection, literary subjectivity

Lai Rui. Three Theoretical Approaches to Rethinking the Theory of Literary Reflection in the New Era[J]. Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art, 2024, 44(1): 139-146.

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