Literature is closely related to natural disasters. Poems reflecting natural disasters throughout the dynasties of Chinese history have been handed down till today, as have such novels from the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties. Modern Chinese literature has an even closer relationship with natural disasters. The frequent tragedies in rural life have made left-wing writers turn their eyes to villages and foster a rural literature reflecting natural disasters. As modern times have witnessed many natural disasters, a large number of related literary works have been produced, such as Battling with Floods, which records the strong, unyielding spirit of the Chinese nation when facing tragedy.

Since some major disasters have been hot topics for writers, there are often many different literary works concerning one particular disaster. For example, literary reportage, novels and poems can be found all revolving around the Tangshan earthquake. The novels about the SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) outbreak in China total more than ten. There are also several poems focusing on the story of a girl reading a book amid ruins and shambles during the Wenchuan earthquake.

Because these disasters have actually taken place, realism is the main writing style in disaster literature. Coercively dragging a character from normal life into a situation of extreme, complex ordeals, disaster literature depicts the unique feelings of characters by penetrating into their concealed inner worlds and making an inquiry into the profundity and intricacy of human nature. The narrative structure follows a common pattern: A sudden disaster breaks the routine of everyday life, and the protagonists’ destinies and personalities are changed henceforth.

Tragedy is the color and tone of disaster literature, constituting the most basic aesthetic character of the works. Such tragedy is first manifested in the damage inflicted by the disasters on a formerly quiet and peaceful life and in the misfortune of the lives being devoured. By describing the catastrophic ruin, the works convey lament and pity for the fate of the people who have had to face merciless nature. Confronted with nature, individuals feel their vulnerability and smallness. Each disaster inflicts irreversible wounds and painful memories on human beings.

In addition, the tragedy of disaster literature is also shown in the protagonists’ spiritual suffering. In these disastrous situations, some of the basic life values of humans are challenged and the protagonists therefore suffer the trials and tribulations of the mind.
However, despite the tragedy of wrecked homes and destroyed lives, disaster literature should bring people the courage and power to conquer their plight. In this way, another aesthetic character of this type of literature can be seen—nobility.

Sweeping across the boundless land, typhoons, earthquakes, tsunamis, floods and snowstorms occur with infinite power. Houses collapse, the earth trembles and the mountains sway. People are caught in a great flurry, crushed under the atmosphere of horror and death. The formidably enormous destructive force of natural disasters is far beyond people’s cognition and endurance. As a spiritual trait, nobility is mainly found in those fearless, heroic figures who assume the task of disaster relief. For the sake of the safety of people’s lives and property, these heroes plunge into severe situations and do not hesitate to give up their lives when facing raging diseases, torrential floods or cascading rubble.

As a unique literary paradigm, disaster literature necessitates a better theoretical system for research on it. Based on the current research, the following points of improvement are noteworthy. The first is to further collect, identify and sort out works and research data within the scope of disaster literature. Second, some special disaster subjects such as earthquakes, floods, droughts and plagues as well as their relations with literature should be more deeply investigated. Third, the theory itself of disaster literature should be strengthened in regard to ontology, creation theory, communication theory and narratology. Last, interdisciplinary research should be explored, for example, research into the relations between disaster literature and psychology, anthropology, therapy, religion and sociology to open up a broader scope for disaster literature research.

 

Zhang Tanghui is from the College of Liberal Arts at Yangzhou University.