Review of Li Yi’s Republican China as Method (Zuowei fangfa de minguo 作為方法的民國)

Abstract

Li Yi’s book Republican China as a Method serves as an innovative research method to deeply understand modern Chinese literature. It emphasizes the interaction between the materialistic social and cultural mechanism and the spiritual and personal creativity of literary creation. Although it only provides a start of the theoretical research paradigm, it presents a brave attempt by Mainland Chinese scholars to pursue subjective research.