On the Way of Shaping the Image of the Underclass Minor Intellectuals in Ba Jin's “Cold Nights”-Taking the Character Wang Wenxuan as an Example
Abstract
“Cold Nights” is a long novel written by the contemporary Chinese author Ba Jin in the 1990s, which is called The Civilian Epic. The book mainly portrays the characters of Wang Wenxuan, Zeng Shusheng and Wang’s mother. It highlights the misery of the fate of intellectuals at the bottom of society in the war-torn environment and indicts the unreasonable social system. In this essay, the question of “the way author Ba Jin portrays the underclass intellectuals in “Cold Nights”” is studied and explored. How Ba Jin portrays the characters of small intellectuals who are down and out and the significance of such characterization are also analyzed. Conclusions are drawn by means of a close reading of the text and on the basis of extensive literature references. Ba Jin uses both opposites in contrast and like metaphors. The typical character of Wang Wenxuan is a vivid portrayal of the humiliated, humble and cowardly intellectuals of the lower class. It also extends from the single figure of Wang Wenxuan to the portrayal of a group of small intellectuals in wartime, expanding the universal significance of Wang’s characterization.
References
- Luo Z.Y. & Li X.L. (2009). Modern Chinese literature 1898-1949. Nankai University Press.
- Li. (2021). Toward a new narrative about China’s anti-Japanese war: reading bodily anxiety in Ba Jin’s “Cold Nights”s. Journal of Modern Literature, 44(2), 93.
- Kang X. (2010). A decade of research on The “Cold Nights” in the new century (2000-2009). Journal of Changjiang Normal College (04), 1-5.
- Chen S. G. (2020). Home construction model-textual intention-artistic paradigm: A new exploration of The “Cold Nights”. Journal of Capital Normal University (Social Science Edition) (04), 91-100.
- Pang G.Y. & Lei H. (2008). The aborting of the musical flow of dissonant life - On the cause of Wang Wenxuan’s tragedy in Ba Jin’s “Cold Nights”. Journal of Northeastern University (Social Science Edition) (01), 86-90.
- Fan L. (2021). On the conflict of human discourse and the difference of life desire in “Cold Nights”. Journal of Liaoning Radio and Television University (03), 77-79.
- Song J. H. (2009). The “Cold Nights”: A symbol of the bitterness of Ba Jin’s spiritual world. Masterpiece Appreciation (24), 7-14.
- Ho K. E. (2021). On the Artistic Technique of Wang Wenxuan’s Tragic Sense in The “Cold Nights”. Popular Literature and Art (22), 14-15.
- Qiao, Y. G. & Lin D. (2022). Why “good people” are difficult to become “new people”-a new interpretation of the main character in Ba Jin’s “Cold Nights”. Chinese Cultural Forum (02), 53-62.
- Lee, M. R. (2013). Wang Wenxuan: The self-struggle of the “good old man” and the tragic symbol of the old intellectuals. Journal of Chongqing Jiaotong University (Social Science Edition) (05), 72-74.