By putting grassroots life into perspective, the critical and reflective functions of literature are performed. Very often, strong humanitarian spirit and public awareness represent the departure point of literary depictions of the underclass predicament. In fact, his novel teaches us an invaluable lesson on how to write about individuals, particularly grassroots figures. Lu Yao clearly understood that a grassroots figure is not only defined by external forces but also conscious efforts to achieve spiritual self-growth. His personal growth should be attributed to an incisive consciousness of self-examination, sustained efforts to improve himself as well as the profound social transformation of his time. He is depicted at length not only as a mirror of his time but as a flesh-and-blood person replete with sense and sensibility-a man who sought knowledge, love and no ordinary life. Take Sun Shaoping, the main character in the novel, as an example. For him, these people are not conceptual tools but individuals who experience confusion, doubt, youth and love while having aspirations for a better life in the context of dramatic social change. He cares about the emotional experience, deep feelings and vicissitudes of the grassroots people. Yet when we read Ordinary World, we can easily find out that Lu Yao reached to the core of each character. The carefully constructed “social reality” where individuality is nullified is nothing more than a homogenized and hollow fabrication. In other words, deprived of inner selves, the subjects are invented merely as conceptual tools to illustrate a perceived ever-changing social status quo. However, the representation of grassroots groups is so often deformed, distorted and oversimplified by authors who are hamstrung by an elitist inclination and modernistic jargon. The “underclass” is not a rigid socioeconomic concept but a vibrant assembly of tangible lives. To conclude, Lu Yao’s approach to grassroots subjects is fairly explicit: an equal footing, an open mind and a truthful externalization of his own emotions. His Ordinary World, which has touched millions, did not emerge from a vacuum but rather it is the product of rich first-hand experience living an underprivileged life. It is precisely for this reason that Lu Yao was consistently proud of his rural origin and profoundly sympathetic toward the less fortunate, especially the peasantry. Without an in-depth insight into the working class sentiments, it is impossible for us to fully understand the main theme of socio-historical progress to create truly meaningful works.” Lu Yao once said: “The everyday life of ordinary people never dies out. He knew how to approach the disadvantaged class, how to stay close with them, and how they think and feel. In the 1980s, Lu Yao was already fully aware of such a necessity. Li Yunlei, a notable literary critic, observed that they have, through writing about the travails of ordinary people, degraded the narrative mode of grassroot literature into a personal way to transcend beyond the aesthetic form with appalling nonchalance.Īuthors who genuinely want to speak for grassroot groups need to sustain an equal, effective and ongoing dialogue with common folks. Anxious for new arenas and breakthroughs, some regard grassroot literature as an innovative literary genre and artistic style, and so they attempt to tackle the topic from a top-down perspective in a self-centered manner. Usually highly educated and formally trained in writing, the authors find it problematic to approach the underclass. Indeed, such a perception is confirmed by a number of fictional works portraying the lives of common people. However, given the rapid growth of grassroot literature and various challenges faced by relevant writers, it is advisable for us to once again look at Lu Yao and his Ordinary World because the novel offers the best lesson on depicting life at the bottom.īeneath the current debate lies an underlying perception assumed by many critics that authors can never break away from their self-constructed identities or capture the real lives of disadvantaged groups since there is an unbridgeable gap between them. On the other hand, some literary critics have criticized it for lacking literary consciousness and having a mediocre, predictable storyline. General readers tend to sympathize with the youthful aspirations and indomitable spirit of the characters depicted in the novel. Recently, there has been a revival of interest in the long-deceased author Lu Yao owing to the success of a TV drama adapted from his novel Ordinary World, which is of great eminence in contemporary Chinese literature. Since its adaptation into a TV series, the Ordinary World by Lu Yao was revived the public’s interest in rurual literature.
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