路翎小说≪罗大斗底一生≫中的现代意识“纠缠”样相

Abstract

Lu Ling’s The Life of Luo Dadou portrays the psychological disintegration of a marginalized individual in the midst of radical socio-political transformation. This paper proposes the concept of “the entangled configuration of modern consciousness” to interpret the protagonist’s internal conflict, ethical anxiety, and perceptual distortion. Unlike conventional character portrayals or flat criticisms of ignorance in early modern Chinese fiction, Luo Dadou embodies a structurally fractured subjectivity, shaped by the contradictory forces of tradition, revolution, morality, and collective pressure. This study adopts a close reading method combined with theoretical approaches from modernity studies, psychoanalysis, and cultural psychology. It identifies four key aspects of Luo Dadou’s entangled consciousness: (1) the irreconcilable tension between moral ideals and social reality; (2) the rupture between individual identity and collective discourse; (3) the narrative manifestation of mental breakdown through dreams, hallucinations, and stream-of-consciousness techniques; and (4) a comparative reading of Luo Dadou and Lu Xun’s iconic character Ah Q, illuminating the evolution from unconscious self-vindication to hyper-conscious ethical collapse in Chinese modern literature. Furthermore, the paper argues that Luo Dadou’s tragedy is not merely psychological but cultural and structural. His failure reflects the broader cultural condition of compressed modernity in 20th-century China, where identity recognition and moral grounding were simultaneously lost. In contrast to the satirical portrayal of Ah Q, Lu Ling offers an ethically charged and psychologically intricate image of a “failed subject” whose suffering points to the deepening of modern literary introspection. The novel thus marks a crucial transition from enlightenment-driven critique to introspective depictions of spiritual disintegration, contributing significantly to the narrative of modern Chinese consciousness.