英语论文网

Abstract This paper analyzes the “spiritually lost” of the Chinese youth (the generation of the 1980s) and the “lost generation” in the U.S. And also it explores their spiritual performance when they face the transformation of the society. Through the way of comparing the United States economic conditions, political policies and culture in the period of 1920-1930 with that of China in the period after the year of 1980, this paper analyses the reason behind the spiritually lost. And it also probes the difference of their “spiritually lost” as well as the way the two generations adopted to step out of the “spiritual lost” when they face it. At last the writer proposes that the generation of the 1980s should find the way, which could help them step out the spiritual dilemma, in the Chinese cultural origins. 摘要本文分析比较了中国青年一代（80后）和美国迷惘一代在遭遇社会变革时的精神上的迷惘及其迷惘的表现. 文章通过对美国20世纪二，三十年代与中国20世纪80年代以来的社会政治、经济、和文化状况的阐述，分析了这种迷惘背后的原因，揭示了二者迷惘的差异.同时还探索了二者在步出这种迷惘时所采取的措施.最后作者提出中国的80后需要从中国的传统文化中找到步出迷惘的途径. Introduction After 1990s, every aspect of peoples’ life has been changed. With an unexceptional pace, cities extended their territories and the market stretched its influence to every corner of the society. Packs of crowded skyscrapers, flows of mobilized people and expressways totally overturned people’s view toward moral principle and rational thinking. An industrial rudimentary began to take form in China. All the ideas and relations shared before no longer exist. There is a group of people, who was born in the 1980s and most group members are young writers. They wrote out their experiences toward the society, and this group is being regarded as the “lost generation” of China. Even some people equate the generation of “the 1980s” with the “lost generation” of America. Actually, people could easily find out that there are some shadows of the youth of America in 1920s-1930s on them. Both generations enjoyed great many similarities, such as, revolting against traditional forms, indulging in the materialistic enjoyment and unable to stop it, hating the industrial world leading a Bohemian life. Also both generations faced the same problem brought by the social transformation, and some scholars believed that they are spiritually bankrupted. Despite all of the seemingly similarities shared by the two generations, they are two different groups of people who lived in different times and different countries also the cultural origins and the social background they faced are not the same, but scholars of China seldom analyzes the different historical origins, explores their different performance in spiritual field and their reaction towards the social transformation. Some researchers studied the two respectively by putting the two in their own social background, and neglected comparing the two. On this basis, starting with comparing the two generations’ living environment, say, the two countries economic conditions and political system, this paper devoted to make a detailed analysis between the two, in the hope of this could enlighten the mind of the young generation and guide them spiritually. Ⅰ. The Characteristics of the Two Generations A. The “Lost Generation” “Gertrude Stein described intellectuals of the 1920s as a “lost generation”. Writers like Ernest Hemingway and John Dos Passos wrote out their World War I experiences and expressed cynicism about society’s goals and purposes” (Faracher, Jo. Buhle,2000 30).