Chapter 9 Lu Xun and Chinese/Foreign Culture
于Liu Zaifu: Selected Critical EssaysPurchase instant access (PDF download and unlimited online access):
Abstract
Published in the 1980s, this article was a self-conscious attempt to examine Lu Xun’s reflections on Chinese tradition and Western culture. In the first section, Liu discusses how Lu Xun critically reconsiders the political structure, traditional culture, and national weakness. In the second section, Liu points out that Lu Xun takes an open attitude towards foreign culture and is eager to make the traditional and insulated culture much more dynamic and heterogeneous. In the third section, Liu proposes a new paradigm to study Lu Xun—a cultural perspective that sweeps away with ideological and political platitudes that dominate socialist China. This article, together with many others he wrote in the 1980s, shows that Liu took the lead in Lu Xun studies and launching a cultural critique that questioned the Chinese tradition.