Song Jianhua

　　College of Arts, Guangdong Polytechnic Normal University

　　Abstract:Although Chinese New Literature was strongly anti-traditional in expression, this does not sever the ties of blood that link it to traditional culture; and although it advocates a Western humanistic spirit, it does not install Western literature’s aesthetic values. Due to the cultural distinctiveness and historical continuity of the Chinese language, it was never possible for the New Literature to become totally “Westernized” and turn its back on the mother culture. Therefore, when examining the modern transition of Chinese literature as a whole, we must pay attention to its conscious inheritance of the national cultural tradition and to its operating strategy of attacking traditional culture by making use of it, instead of insisting on its inevitable ties with modern Western literature. The New Literature is after all “Chinese” new literature; no matter how many external factors intervene or are involved, they cannot change its cultural attributes or identification with national culture. This is the premier precondition for our understanding of the modernity of New Literature.

　　Keywords: New Literature, traditional culture, critique and inheritance, modern transformation