Title

Poetic Redemption and Contemporary Implication in Ruins: On Lunei’s “The Following Trilogy”

Author

Shih Hsiao-feng

Genre

Article

Pages

385-410

DOI

10.6503/THJCS.202406_54(2).0005

Download

PDF

Language

Chinese

Key words

Lunei 路內, “The Following Trilogy,” factory, ruins, redemption

Abstract

Since the founding of the Communist Party of China, literature has often featured themes glorifying industry under the guidance of national policies. However, a group of post-1970s and -80s writers in China express a unique perspective on factory scenes in their works, deviating significantly from mainstream Realism. This article focuses on Lunei’s 路內 “The Following Trilogy” (Young Babylon, On the Trail of Her Travels, and Lost in Daicheng 戴城) to observe how the writer, as a witness at the edge of an era, depicts the aesthetic ambiance shaped by factory narratives, thereby reflecting social reality. Compared to other writers, two features set Lunei’s works apart. First, through the intertextuality of sounds, smells, relics, and factories, a poetic “ruin-spirit” space is constructed. The novels are also characterized by the presence of disabled individuals and societal “cancer cells,” symbolizing the confusion and disillusionment of the turn of the century, which are subtly embedded in the narrative. How does Lunei construct the aesthetics of the ruins in the space of the factory? How does he reflect and inquire into the changes of the times in his decadent writing? How does he combine the conscious personal history with the unconscious writing of the times, so as to show his social concern and shape the generation’s redemption of the past, perception of the present, and warning for the future? These are several questions explored in this article.