«НОТАТКИ БОЖЕВІЛЬНОГО» ЛУ СІНЯ ЯК РЕАЛІСТИЧНЕ ВІДОБРАЖЕННЯ КУЛЬТУРНОЇ І ДУХОВНОЇ КРИЗИ КИТАЮ ПОЧАТКУ ХХ СТОЛІТТЯ

Abstract

The article is devoted to the analysis of “Notes of a Madman” by the famous Chinese writer, publicist, literary critic, public and political figure, founder of modern Chinese literature Lu Xun, created in the form of diary entries. This style of writing allowed the author to encode his own subjective and secret thoughts in the metaphorical text, which were contrary to the established traditions, religious and political norms of the Chinese state. The work is written in the Baihua vernacular and contains a devastating critique of China’s patriarchal system with its harsh Confucian views on human behavior in society. The political and cultural crisis in China became apparent, which led to the leveling of the indomitable postulates of Confucianism (humanity, benevolence, morality, patriotism), because they stopped working. This realization led Lu Xun to identify China not only in his time, but also in China for four thousand years as a country of cannibals. Note that the author is not talking about real cannibalism, but considers cannibalism as an extremely cruel model of China’s so-called feudal ethics. Although in the history of mankind there have been cases of cannibalism, and in ancient China, the tradition of eating human flesh found expression in the treatment of the seriously ill, for gastronomic pleasure and revenge. Distributed in China, the “May 4 Movement” gave impetus to the educational movement, the movement for a new culture, new ideas, new knowledge. Lu Xun condemned the state’s total control over the behavior, political views and self-consciousness of its citizens. He created the image of a crazy hero who, in fact, was not sick. In China, people who spoke out against social injustice were called insane. Lu Xun supports the movement for a new Chinese culture and demonstrates outspoken pro-European views, combining them with the traditional Chinese worldview. He adopts the realistic tendencies inherent in European literature, raises social issues, depicts the fate of the little man, exposes social ulcers. All this in order to find a way out of the cultural and spiritual crisis in which his state found itself.