茅盾文學序說 : 「腐蝕」を中心として

Abstract

The outstanding characteristic of Mao Tun's novels is the fact that they invariably take as their principal theme the "condition of the times" in China. The work Fu shih 腐蝕, for example, written in the form of a diary, which at first glance appears to be a psychological novel, is actually centered not about the inner development of its heroine, but about the dark reality of China around the year 1940 in which she lives. Thus as a writer Mao Tun seems less interested in depicting the joys and sorrows of ordinary human beings, which might transcend the boundaries of time and place, than in describing the objective world of reality which surrounds individuals of a particular time and place. His novels, even the less successful ones, give an impression of weight and importance, no doubt because of the clarity with which the author has observed the troubled conditions of modern China. For this reason his works have commonly been called novels of critical realism. But because of this emphasis upon depiction of period and environment, the characters in his works remain for the most part representations of abstract ideas, displaying little development and lacking in any qualities which might convey the author's warmth of feeling. This must be counted one of the defects of Mao Tun's works.