Social Sciences in China (Chinese Edition)

No.11, 2013

Three Paradigms in Research on Lu Xun and the Value Options in Contemporary Times

(Abstract)

Zhang Fugui

Research on Lu Xun is never limited to the pure analysis of an individual writer, but represents an understanding of the cultural attribute represented by Lu Xun himself and his essays. Likewise, the evaluation of research on Lu Xun is never one of academic history, but a social one that is associated with the value orientations of those times. At present, with the return of academic logic and the growing tendency toward private research, there has arisen a noteworthy divergence of standpoints and value evaluations of Lu Xun research. Meanwhile, as a prominent discipline that has been over-interpreted, research on Lu Xun is demonstrating a tendency toward redundancy and triviality. Three fundamental paradigms are usually used in the research on Lu Xun: the historical research that attempts to explore historical materials; the academic research that focuses on knowledge interpretation and aesthetic evaluation; and the contemporary research that pursues the contemporary meaning and values of Lu Xun’s ideas. Each offering an insight and understanding of Lu Xun’s rich and complex spiritual world, all the paradigms present paradoxes in one way or the other and perform different value functions.