Assignment 11
Based on the reading answer these questions.
1. What does the term “modernism†mean and how would you characterize modernist literature and art? What are some of the key characteristics of modernist literature and art in general?
2. What does the term “native soil†literature mean in the Chinese context? How is Shen Congwen and “native soil†writer? Explain by looking closely at his texts.
3. As Shen Congwen creates his “poetic vision of rural China,†how do you think is he in some ways influenced by Western modernist ideas and texts, even while he is also strongly drawn to and influenced by classical Chinese poetics?
4. How is there a strong “sense of place†in Shen Congwen’s stories? How does Shen Congwen use a lyrical/poetic style of writing to go beyond “the limits of realism? In what ways are Shen Congwen’s texts akin to poetry?
5. In the story “The Husband,†how does Shen Congwen portray a deeply probing portrait of the private world of a peasant man? How does he reveal emotions obliquely (indirectly)? And how does he use small details to describe intimate psychological realities of human relations? 6. In the story “The Husband,†how is “the familiar made strange, while the strange becomes familiar?â€