Lu Xun’s “Diary of a Madman”
E774375
Lu Xun’s “Diary of a Madman” is a landmark 1918 short story written in vernacular Chinese that critiques traditional Confucian society and is often regarded as the first modern work of Chinese literature.
Observed surface forms (1)
| Surface form | Occurrences |
|---|---|
| Diary of a Madman | 0 |
Statements (49)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
Chinese literary work
ⓘ
modern Chinese literature ⓘ short story ⓘ |
| author | Lu Xun NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| canonicalStatus | core text of 20th-century Chinese literature ⓘ |
| centralTheme |
cannibalism as social metaphor
ⓘ
critique of Confucian ethics ⓘ feudalism and tradition ⓘ oppression of the individual ⓘ paranoia and madness ⓘ |
| ChineseTitle |
Kuangren Riji
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
狂人日记 NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| considered |
first major vernacular Chinese short story
ⓘ
first modern work of Chinese literature ⓘ |
| countryOfOrigin | China ⓘ |
| criticizes |
feudal ethics of “benevolence and righteousness”
ⓘ
oppressive social hierarchy ⓘ traditional Confucian family system ⓘ |
| firstPublishedIn | New Youth NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| firstPublishedInChinese | Xin Qingnian GENERATED ⓘ |
| genre |
psychological fiction
ⓘ
social criticism ⓘ |
| includedIn | Lu Xun’s collection Call to Arms NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| influencedBy |
Nikolai Gogol’s Diary of a Madman
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
Russian literature ⓘ |
| influenceOn |
May Fourth writers
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
modern Chinese fiction ⓘ |
| keyLine | Save the children ⓘ |
| languageStyle | vernacular Chinese ⓘ |
| literaryMovement |
May Fourth literature
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
New Culture Movement NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| literaryTechnique |
irony
ⓘ
stream-of-consciousness elements ⓘ symbolism ⓘ unreliable narrator ⓘ |
| narrativeForm | diary ⓘ |
| narrativePerspective | first-person narrator ⓘ |
| openingFrame | editorial preface by an unnamed narrator ⓘ |
| originalLanguage | Chinese ⓘ |
| publicationContext | New Culture Movement attack on tradition ⓘ |
| publicationYear | 1918 ⓘ |
| setting | a traditional Chinese village ⓘ |
| structure | framed narrative with diary entries ⓘ |
| studiedIn | modern Chinese literature courses ⓘ |
| symbolism |
cannibalism symbolizes moral corruption
ⓘ
madness symbolizes heightened moral awareness ⓘ |
| theme |
awakening of individual conscience
ⓘ
dehumanization under feudal morality ⓘ |
| timePeriodInFiction | late Qing or early Republican China ⓘ |
Referenced by (1)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.