Name: Aurora Lloro
Date: October 4, 2011
Title of Article: Revolutionary realism and romanticism in China: Modern World
Author: Luo, Jing
Name of Publication: Daily Life through History
Date of Publication: 4, Oct, 2011
Source of Article: Daily Life through History
http://dailylife2.abc-clio.com/Search/Display/1423384?terms=chinese+art
Summary: This article is about the realism and romanticism in literary works in China. Mao Zedong was a Chinese Communist revolutionary, guerrilla warfare strategist, and most important a Marxist political philosopher who was the first to put forward the policy of revolutionary realism and revolutionary romanticism. Mao said that the content of a poem should be "the unity of realism and romanticism" because people would not be able to compose poems at all if they were too realistic. Two important shifts can be found in this new policy. First, China's own literary tradition was emphasized. The other important shift in this new policy was the stress on romanticism. As a literary method or mode, romanticism was almost as popular as realism in China after the 1910s, but after 1942, especially in the Communist-controlled Liberated Areas, romanticism became much less preferred because realism was thought to be a better artistic mode in describing reality and encouraging readers to actively involve themselves in society. There was a lot of controversy after Mao's new teaching was announced; hot discussions appeared about the difference between revolutionary realism and conventional realism, and the relationship between socialist realism and Mao's "revolutionary realism." At the end it was generally agreed that Mao's instruction was the most progressive method for advancing China's literature and art.
Luo, Jing. "Revolutionary Realism and Romanticism in China: Modern World." Daily Life through History. ABC-CLIO, 2011. Web. 3 Nov. 2011.
