Academic Journal of Humanities & Social Sciences, 2024, 7(9); doi: 10.25236/AJHSS.2024.070912.
Lanting Zhu
Faculty of Arts and Humanities, University of Macau, Macau, China
After the "Cultural Revolution," many Chinese writers began to depict children not as traditionally innocent and carefree figures, but as individuals with neglected and repressed inner traits. Avant-garde novels explored children's inner anxieties, fears, admiration for violence, aggressive behaviors, and themes of death and hunger, creating a traumatic narrative of childhood. This unconventional portrayal, often set against the backdrop of the "Cultural Revolution" and its ideological liberation, examines how children's images shifted to that of perpetrators and witnesses of violence during significant historical changes. This study critically analyzes this literary phenomenon through major representative cases, highlighting the traumatic childhood narratives in post-"Cultural Revolution" avant-garde novels. It aims to uncover the socio-historical critical consciousness and the value of enlightenment reflected in the depiction of children's violence.
Avant-garde fiction; children's image; violent narrative; aesthetic connotations
Lanting Zhu. A Study on the Representation of Child Violence in Avant-Garde Novels. Academic Journal of Humanities & Social Sciences (2024) Vol. 7, Issue 9: 71-75. https://doi.org/10.25236/AJHSS.2024.070912.
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