Author ｜
Chen Shuo-win
Abstract ｜
In classical Chinese literature, the term “Wenyi (文藝)” was used for a long time, which can be referred to general humanities and knowledge. However, the meaning of this term nowadays differs to some extents from its original one. This investigation notes that the meaning of “Wenyi” has changed from its traditional meaning around the turn of the last century while the idea of “art” was disseminated throughout China. Then, the new meaning of “Wenyi” as “literature and art” became popular after the new cultural movement of 1919. As art and literature were regarded as a part of the new culture, which also needed to be polished and renewed to save and strengthen the nation, the meaning of this term became more well-known after intense debates were conducted on. Finally, around 1930, the modern meaning of the term, which is used today, stabilized. This article traces the transformation of the meaning of this term, and how English-Chinese Dictionaries, translated Japanese literature, the spreading concepts from Western art, and the Chinese printing culture have helped to standardize and normalize the new meaning. Besides, based on the methodology that is used in digital studies in the humanities, this preliminary study also investigates the use of this term during the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republican period using information that is retrieved from “the database of the modern Chinese thought and literature (1830-1930)”.
keywords ｜
new term, literature, art, renaissance, nationalist literature