National legacies in fiction

Everything must be taken in context. The field of 'World Literature' adheres to this especially, as otherwise it may be difficult to understand the peculiarities which are obscured by the universality of themes that pop up in literature time and again, tragedy, love, revenge, family etc.

It is with this stream of thought that I put down Lu Xun's short stories, which may be pretty unremarkable to the average reader who do not know about his involvement in the New Culture Movement in Republican China in the 1920s, or that he was the figurehead of China's new literary modernism. Furthermore, the political background of China at the time which had recently absolved itself from almost two millenia of imperial rule is of significance.

But it is evident, especially in his famous short story, "The Madman's Diary", about how this 'call to arms' - to face a new political landscape shaped by the people themselves - has been misconstrued and interpreted to suit the interests of various factionalised groups, such as the Communists. Instead of the status quo being right, it is in fact everyone else who is insane - it is a particularly seductive way of embracing the new, without really thinking about if there was anything to salvage from the old. The feudal system that supported imperial China was indeed parasitic and must be uprooted from Chinese society, once and for all.

Looking closer to these shores, Martin Amis' latest novel, "The Pregnant Widow" merits a deeper understanding of the English novel and how it has evolved. From his regular references to Jane Austen, to the protagonist's observation of social freedoms in the fashionable 60's London, Amis must be interpreted through a certain lens to be fully appreciated. Comical satire- of which I know little - exposes that very British type of humour, that perhaps foreign readers may not grasp, for example. And it is in this way, Amis tries to take an image of Britain's national psychology, up until the 2000s, where the old age of the main character sometimes clashes with the modernity of the new millenium.

But national understandings may not always be necessary, thankfully, but as with international relations, the nation always rears its ugly head in some shape or form, whether one would like it to be there or not.