Journal of East China Normal University (Philosoph ›› 2013, Vol. 45 ›› Issue (1): 67-73.

• 文学 • Previous Articles     Next Articles

The “Emancipation” of Ah Q and the “Reverse” of Enlightenment: Rereading The True Story of Ah Q

LUO Gang   

  • Online:2013-01-15 Published:2013-03-27
  • Contact: LUO Gang
  • About author: LUO Gang

Abstract: Based on Qu Qiu-bai’s examination of Lu Xun in “Preface to An Anthology of LU Xun’s Essays,” this thesis rereads The True Story of Ah Q. The discussion of “What is Ah Q’s surname?” becomes the starting point of Ah Q’s biography written by the “author”. the narration that “Ah Q wants to be surnamed Zhao, but Elderly Gentleman Zhao does not allow him to be surnamed Zhao” becomes the starting point of the whole life story of Ah Q. What’s more, if The True Story of Ah Q demonstrates Lu Xun’s most profound reflection of “the Revolution of 1911,” then he is taking the collapse of “rural space” as the starting point to reflect “the Revolution of 1911” in the discussion of “What is Ah Q’s surname?” and the narration that “Ah Q wants to be surnamed Zhao, but Elderly Gentleman Zhao does not allow him to be surnamed Zhao”. To interpret The True Story of Ah Q in this way is not to prove that Lu Xun refutes with foresight the “new theory of the Revolution of 1911” from “rural space” to “power of each province”, but to reveal that he foresees profoundly the revolutionary but simultaneously tragic result due to the collapse of “rural space”. That is to say, a multitude of Ah Qs will be expelled consciously or unconsciously from the patriarchal society under a tender veil. They are like ghosts wandering in wildness a group after another. This makes the “emancipation” of Ah Q become a key to a new understanding of “enlightenment”.