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The Dimension of Compassion Ai Wu's Reflections on Self, the Marginalized, and the Era in Southward Journey

Author(s)

Chenchen Zhang

Affiliation(s)

Faculty of Arts, Guangdong Institute of Education Guangzhou, Guangdong, China

Abstract

Southward Journey stands as a representative achievement of Ai Wu's early literary creations, surpassing mere travel accounts or records of exotic customs. Its deeper value lies in constructing a literary world imbued with a layered sense of compassion. This paper employs a combined approach of close textual reading and theoretical analysis, centering on the work's distinctive wandering narrative, and examines it through three dimensions: self-spiritual redemption, empathy with marginalized characters, and awareness of the era's crises. The key findings suggest that Ai Wu's compassion is not a simple, condescending sympathy; rather, it is based on egalitarian dialogue, lived experience, and historical reflection, forming a complex emotional structure that integrates self-reconstruction, humanistic empathy, and critique of the times. It begins with self-reflection through a lowered narrative perspective and a breakthrough of the spiritual world, deepens into a dialectical recognition of the inner contradictions of marginalized characters and empathic resonance, and ultimately elevates into an acute concern for the sufferings of the borderlands and the destiny of the nation, highlighting life's resilience amid the interweaving of realistic depictions and romantic tones. The academic contribution of this paper lies in clarifying the intrinsic connections between self, the marginalized, and the era in Southward Journey, enriching the multidimensional interpretation of Ai Wu's compassionate consciousness, providing a model case for breaking doctrinaire narratives in the study of leftist literature, and deepening the understanding of the humanistic value of modern wandering narratives.

Keywords

Southward Journey; Compassion; Self-Reconstruction; Narratives of the Marginalized; Reflection on the Era

References

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