On the Existentialism andits Influence on the Literature

【摘 要】本文简要介绍了统治了19世纪和20世纪的哲学思潮——存在主义的缘起，存在主义思潮主要的倡导者和推动者以及他们所主张的观点和对存在主义的不同视角；本文还介绍了存在主义对那一时期文学届的巨大影响，使文学的方向发生了颠覆性的转变，最后着重论述了在文学作品中所反映出的存在主义主题：选择、寻求与验证自我存在、绝望与死亡以及主观性。

【关键词】存在主义；文学；选择；主观性

I.Introduction to the existentialism

Existentialism is a philosophical movement or tendency in the 19th and 20th centuries, emphasizing individual existence, freedom, and choice. Although it is a literary movement which belongs to the 19th and 20th centuries, elements of existentialism can be found in the thought (and life) of Socrates, in the Bible, and in the work of many pre-modern philosophers and writers.

An existentialist could either be a religious moralist, agnostic relativist, or an amoral atheist. Kierkegaard, a religious philosopher, Nietzsche, an anti-Christian, Sartre, an atheist, and Camus an atheist, are credited for their works and writings about existentialism. Existentialism owes its currency and influence to the French novelist-philosopher Sartre, who declared that “man is alone in a godless universe”. Sartre and his followers insist that the universe is meaningless, which must produce anxiety, loneliness, discomfort, and despair.

Kierkegaard, considered as the founder of modern existentialism, reacted against the idealism of the 19th-century German philosopher Hegel, who claimed to have worked out a total rational understanding of humanity and history. Kierkegaard stressed the ambiguity and absurdity of the human situation in which the individual must live a totally committed life.

All existentialists basically agree that human life is in no way complete and fully satisfying because of suffering and losses that occur when considering the lack of perfection, power, and control one has over their life. Even though they do agree that life is not optimally satisfying, it does have meaning. Existentialism is the search and journey for true self and true personal meaning in life. Therefore, the individual must always be ready to defy the norms of society for the sake of the proof of individual’s existence.

II.Existentialism’s influence on the field of literature

In the 20th century, the novels of Kafka, such as The Trial and The Castle aim to show the themes of anxiety, guilt, and solitude, which are obviously influenced by the existentialism. The works of the French writer Albert Camus is usually associated with such obvious themes as absurdity and meaninglessness of life, the indifference of the universe.

Existentialist themes are also reflected in the plays of the absurd, especially in the works of Samuel Beckett. In the United States, the influence of existentialism on literature has been more indirect and diffused, but traces of Kierkegaard’s thought can be found in the novels of Walker Percy and John Updike, and various existentialist themes are apparent in the work of such diverse writers as Mailer, Barth, and Miller.

III.Main themes of the existentialism reflected in the literature

1.Choice.

Existentialists have held that human beings do not have a fixed nature, or essence, as other animals and plants do; each human being makes choices that create his or her own nature. Choice is therefore central to human existence, and it is inescapable; even the refusal to choose is a choice. Freedom of choice entails commitment and responsibility. Because individuals are free to choose their own path, existentialists have argued that they must accept the risk and responsibility of following their commitment wherever it leads.

2.Seeking a self-being

Influenced by the existentialism, many writers at that time showed the theme of

“seeking a self-being” They believed that “we are what we can become”. The life is just a process, the process in which we become our self-being. Human existence is a project, in which past and present are subordinate to future, is the main residence of our existence. “Human existence cannot have a relationship with being unless it remains in the midst of nothingness.” (M. Heidegger).

Nothingness appears in existentialism, as also shows in the literature. The awareness of anything in the world that is not the evidence of one’s own existence is an awareness of nothingness. Or in another sense, the awareness that one can face uncountable possibilities of his existence means the nothingness of his own existence. However, nothingness is a kind of existence that everyone in the world practice every day and every moment.

And then one arrives from nothingness to absurdity at the moment that he asks for a meaning after he has become aware of the other. Absurdity is a key term in existentialism, especially in Sartre’s and Camus’ philosophical works. It is sometimes possible to overcome absurdity, with absurdity itself, as Camus says in The Myth of Sisyphus: “The struggle itself toward the heights is enough to fill a man’s heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy.” Such kinds of existentialist themes are apparently reflected in the literature at that time and still influence the literary field today.

3. Dread and death.

Existentialists believe that dread, loneliness, disgust and sense of being abandoned as the basic feelings of human beings. They consider that individual is permanently in confrontation with society and human beings are “thrown” into the world and objects and society always act against “self”. They even think that the possessing the sense and emotion is a kind of tragedy. The distinction between man and animals lies in the fact that animals don’t fear death because they have no sense of its advent, whereas, people understand that they can’t escape death. Therefore, they think that the process of life is the process of death. They come to the pessimistic conclusion that existence is non-existence.

4.Subjectivity.

Subjectivity is one of the key terms in Existentialism. All existentialists have followed Kierkegaard in stressing the importance of personal experience. Thus, the understanding of a situation by someone involved in that situation is superior to that of a detached, objective observer. This emphasis on the perspective of the individual agent has also made existentialists suspicious of systematic reasoning. Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, and other existentialist writers have been deliberately unsystematic in the exposition of their philosophies, and in their literature.

Despite their antirationalist position, however, most existentialists cannot be said to be irrationalists in the sense of denying all validity to rational thought. They have held that rational clarity is desirable wherever possible, but that the most important questions in life are not accessible to reason or science. Furthermore, they have argued that even science is not as rational as is commonly supposed. Nietzsche, for instance, asserted that the scientific assumption of an orderly universe is the most part of a useful fiction. Most philosophers since Plato have held that the highest ethical good is the same for everyone; as one approaches moral perfection, one resembles other morally perfect individuals. This theme in the literature is just greatly reflected the philosophical trend ---existence.

IV.Conclusion

In a word, existentialism is the product of a specific philosophical and social background. It has its own advantages as well as limitations. It truly reflects and mirrors the social life and spiritual world of people in that age. And it does pour immense influence on the field of literature in the whole world. We should not say that the main themes of the existentialism shown in the literature are good or bad too fast but we do say that existentialism does really reflect the emotional and spiritual state of that time so perfectly and so comprehensively. This philosophical trend influences many philosophers and writers of following years greatly and it will go on to shadow the people in the world and the literature as well.

eferences：

[1]Chang Yaoxin. “A Survey of American Literature” (M). Tianjin: Nankai University Press. 1990.

[2]Weng Dexiu, Chen Yongguo, Wu Jinghui. “Highlights of 20th Century British Literature” (M). Changchun: Jilin University Press. 2000.

[3]Howthorn Jeremy. “A Glossary of Contemporary Literary Theory.”(M).

[4]Gillie, C. Longman Companion to English Literature, Longman Group Ltd., 1978.

作者信息：

庞琛，男，东北电力大学外国语学院，副教授，1962年生，吉林人，主要从事商务英语、西方文化与哲学以及跨文化交际等方向的研究。