Communications in Humanities Research ISSN: 2753-7072
Home> Volumes> Volume CHR Vol.57> Article
Research Article

Wildness-Humanity-Naturalness: On the Writing of Animals in Bi Feiyu's Novels

Sichen ZengDepartment of Chinese Language and Literature, Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei, 430072, China *

* Corresponding author: [email protected]

Abstract

Representing and expressing animals in nature through words is one of the literary traditions in ancient and modern times. The writing of animals in New Period literature has emerged as a remarkable literary phenomenon in the history of contemporary Chinese literature. This paper focuses on the novels of Bi Feiyu, a significant "late-generation" writer of New Period literature. It analyzes the various aspects and connotations of his animal writing from two basic themes: the countryside and the city. In his rural novels, animals carry the trauma and fear of the era, symbolize the imagination of freedom, and reveal the distortion of human nature by power. In urban novels, animals reflect the mental illnesses of urban residents. Meanwhile, through the comparison with other two writers with outstanding manifestations in animal writing, considering the author's self-expression regarding animals, humans, life, and humanity, this paper explores how animals, as literary devices, integrate with the author's growth experience and life, thus forming Bi Feiyu's unique animal writing centered around humanity.

Keywords: Bi Feiyu; animal writing; humanity
Published: May 6, 2025
DOI: 10.54254/2753-7064/2025.LC22606
Volume: CHR Vol.57
pp. 48-56
Download PDF

References

  1. Jiang Guangping. (2008) The Extreme Interpretation of Moment and Eternity--Bi Feiyu's Cricket Cricket Cricket. Journal of Yancheng Normal College (Humanities and Social Sciences Edition), 3:38-42.
  2. Bi Feiyu. (2023) The Days of Love. Beijing: People's Literature Publishing House.
  3. Bi Feiyu. (2004) The wheel is round. Nanjing: Jiangsu Literary Publishing House.
  4. Bi Feiyu. (2000) The Human Zoo. Zong Renfa. A Walk on Earth, Changchun: Changchun Publishing House.
  5. Nie Zhenzhao. (2011) Literary Ethics Criticism: Ethical Choice and the Sphinx Factor. Foreign Literature Research, 06, 1-13.
  6. Tang Zhengang, (2007) Power Narrative - Love Lament - Crafty Text - On Bi Feiyu's Plain, Journal of Theory, 7, 115-120.
  7. Bi Feiyu. (2005) Plains. Nanjing: Jiangsu Literary Publishing House.
  8. Zhang Jun. (2002) The Stance of Fiction: Interviews with New Generation Writers, Guilin: Guangxi Normal University Pres.
  9. Bi Feiyu. (2004) This Half. Nanjing: Jiangsu Literary Publishing House.
  10. Matthew Carracco. (2022) Zoology: the animal question from Heidegger to Derrida. Translated by Pang Hongrui. Wuhan: Changjiang Literature and Art Publishing House,
  11. Bi Feiyu. (2005) That Summer, That Autumn, Beijing: Writers' Publishing House.
  12. [French] Michel Foucault. (2003) Madness and Civilisation, translated by Liu Beicheng and Yang Yuanying. Shanghai: Sanlian Bookstore.
  13. Bi Feiyu. (2023) Welcome to earth. Beijing: People's Literature Publishing House.
  14. Jiang Guangping, Bi Feiyu. (2001) Bi Feiyu Interview. Qingyi, Wuhan: Changjiang Literature and Art Publishing House.
  15. Wu Yiqin. (2000) Sensual Metaphysicist - Bi Feiyu on, Contemporary Writers Review, 6, 49-57.