Interpreting the Modernity of Yu Dafu’s “Sinking” Combined with Decadence Theory

Yu Dafu’s work “Sinking” portrays the life of a young man studying in Japan from his perspective. It particularly emphasizes depicting personal experiences through the character’s psychology and dialogue. Additionally, it uses character choices as metaphors for the pain of modernization faced by contemporary China. This article uses the protagonist’s image in “Sinking” as an example to deduce cognition through social and historical backgrounds. It combines the theory of modernity and decadence and examines its characteristics from national consciousness, civil identity cognition, and changes in moral concepts. The analysis of modernity’s characteristics demonstrates how “Sinking” illustrates the problems in Chinese society’s modernization and the fundamental reason why the character behaves this way. The practical issues depicted in the novel confirm the various challenges faced by modern Chinese society’s modernization and how the youth of this era developed, thereby showcasing Yu Dafu’s concern for reality and awareness of social responsibility.