Similarities and Distinctions between Heroism of East and West

【Abstract】Heroism is an unique appearance of human civilization. According to theory of Western liberating history research， “essence of human history is conflicts and confrontations of civilizations from different regions， most of which is military conflicts. ”This thesis introduces collective heroism from East and individual heroism from West with analysis of typical heroic films， famous grassroots heroism from literature with ordinary ancient heroic literature， developmental history and essences of contemporary heroism from different countries， rise and enriched core of modern heroism with analysis on modern media products， influence of heroism on human society and individuals.

【Key words】Analysis； History； Outlooks of Value； Origin； Heroism

【作者簡介】楊秀琦（1986- ），男，漢族，河北張家口人，翻譯碩士，云南農(nóng)業(yè)大學(xué)，翻譯碩士專業(yè)，研究方向：翻譯。

I. Introduction

Heroism， literally means worship to heroic behaviors. Heroism can also be clearly described as a desire to make a difference to a world， hoping to be noticed by the mass. Although Heroism must be demonstrated by specific events and characters in history but its central values have eternal fascination through time and space. At present， with progressing of globalization， cultures of East and West are uniting with each other.

II. Eastern Collective Heroism and Western Individual Heroism

Human history forges with wars， conflicts and everything with bath of blood. Ordinary heroism from East and West used to be exploited by warlords or dictatorships as propaganda that courage people to join their wars and fight for their shared interest. It is ironic that culture of heroism is primarily created by violence， therefore creating collective heroism of East and individual heroism of West.

1.Specific Introductions

Due to different historic and cultural reasons， collective heroism and individual heroism has been symbolic characteristics of East and West. However， it is still peculiar for one to identify them. While collective heroism highlights personal contribution and sacrifice for a collective or a obscure ideology and individual heroism highlights satisfaction of individuals and absolute individual value to himself.

2.Heroism Demonstrated in Films

It has been a common sense of scholarship that heroism can be clearly illustrated in themes of conflicts， especially military conflicts. That is why the author would like to choose ordinary military films as references. Although these two films are not set in the same time or the same social background but according to criticism but they share a common sense ：to fight for freedom and independence of countries and nations.

III. Grassroots Heroism of East and West

Grassroots heroism has no specific definition because it does not belong to scholar categorization of social science or literature research and its central essence has always been varying with course of history. But in the history， there have been several compositions that describe the story of grassroots heroes， especially novels， the most famous novels are Water Margin from East and Robin Hood from West. Although these heroic compositions were influenced by different outlooks of value but heroism demonstrated has one common point： to meet the need of the mass.

1.Origin and Development of Grassroots Heroism

How was grassroots heroism created？Until today the scholar still hasnt proposed an answer. From the authors view， grassroots heroism is created from exploit of feudal bureaucracy. According to Marxism， nation is the creation of irreconcilable contradictions between classes. In the ancient history， governors from feudal class exploited the mass for their own interests with brutal methods， all of the nations were built on foundations of such exploits. There were always people from underclass（grassroots） standing up against such bureaucracy and their political agendas such as freedom， equality， insurance of wealth and human rights， corresponded demands of the mass. So it is common for the mass to worship such people as heroes and such heroism is called grassroots heroism.

How do we categorize grassroots heroism of East and West？ Answers are flexible. However， grassroots heroism of East and West share a common feature： willingness to strive for welfare of the mass， at least welfare of a collective belongs to citizen class or underclass. But first， the author would like to take Water Margin and Robin Hood for a reference to analyze similarities and distinctions of grassroots heroism of East and West and outlooks of value behind them.

2.Ordinary Grassroots Heroism in Water Margin and Robin Hood

Both compositions tell stories of grassroots heroes who rise up against brutal feudal bureaucracy and they can be considered as typical compositions representing grassroots heroism. However， under brutal exploit of feudal governors， those stories were adapted according to wishes of the mass and those “inferior” beings became heroes who protect people from evil. However， there had been limits of ideologies under pressure from social conditions. Song Jiang and Robin Hood， both intends to be the next feudal governor after wiping out the former bureaucracy instead of eliminating the feudal system. Apart from that， grassroots heroism demonstrated in Water Margin and Robin Hood still have multiple distinctions influenced by different outlooks of value.

3.From Grassroots Rebellion to Civilian Heroes： Modern Grassroots Heroism

When it comes to the modern age， essence of heroism has changed， which the author will mention afterwards. Even grassroots heroism has changed too. Taking another look at the literature works mentioned above， we may find a common point：the main characters wish to realize so-called justice by execute a few high-rank government officers in feudal political system， their vision and perspective， are just as narrow as those who come from underclass and in the end， the problems have never been fixed. However， in the modern world， grassroots heroes have totally different stories. Even though they come from underclass， where vision is still shattered but they will learn to act as true heroes after tough struggles and their nature has changed， from grassroots rebellion who only represent the interest of specific class from civilian heroes who fight for common interest of entire human.

IV. Contemporary Heroism of East and West

Since scholar research categorizes literature as contemporary literature and modern literature， heroism can also be categorized as the contemporary and the modern. From the authors view， contemporary heroism should be defined as the heroism indoctrinated in literature， film and television from 50s to end of 90s.

1.Background of Birth of Contemporary Heroism

Contemporary heroism rose from ashes of World War II， it made its appearance when world was just tied itself up to the blazing vault of arms. In the four decades of cold war， UUSR and U. S. always brought up confrontations， even regional military conflicts. Apart from destructive arms race， East and West were competing in an invisible battlefield of political propaganda. Several kinds of compositions， including TV-series， movies， novels， poems， were exploited to distribute Soviet and American ideologies， where contemporary heroic culture of established power was indoctrinated.

2.Different essence of Contemporary Heroism

As this thesis mentioned before， contemporary heroism can be categorized into three kinds：heroism of established powers， revolutionary heroism from new-established countries， and heroism of developing nations. Every kind of heroism highlights different political ideologies and demand of the mass. In these compositions for political propaganda， U. S made its appearance as a humble guardian of democracy and freedom， at the same time， distorted appearances of strategic opponents like USSR as an evil empire.

3.Extinction of Contemporary Heroism

Born with cold war， contemporary heroism was doomed to extinct with facilitation of peace. In the end of 20th Century， with end of cold war and acceleration of globalization， peace and development became theme of dynasty， fashion culture was rising， Internet distributed different ideologies to every corner of the world. In such an era， established-power such as U. S had no current strategic opponent on conflict. Compositions that created intentionally to distort national appearances no longer exist. However， some ordinary elements still exists.

V. Conclusion

As a unique appearance of civilization， heroism is merely researched or discussed. This thesis reveals different kind of heroic cultures and developmental history of heroism. While collective heroism highlights personal contribution and sacrifice for a collective or an obscure ideology and individual heroism highlights satisfaction of individuals and absolute individual value to himself.

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