ABSTRACT
It is difficult to discuss every aspect of the situation regarding research on Shen Congwen (1902–1988). Similar to Shen Congwen’s own life story and literary career, research about Shen Congwen has already spanned nearly a hundred years, from the early part of the 20th century up through the present, and has experienced many twists and turns, as well as frustrations and disappointments, along the way. Because a research perspective is closely connected to the era in which it developed, and thus the general understanding of literature and critical criteria undergo unceasing adjustment and deepening as the era evolves, for a writer like Shen Congwen who kept tilling the literary soil and yielding a prodigious literary output, it has been unavoidable for the research about him to alternate between phases of vibrancy and neglect, to encounter all sorts of changes, and to feature a variety of commentators who would all hold fast to their own views.
