Interpretation of the “Critical Space” in Classical Literary Works From a Psychiatric Perspective

Objectives This study aims to explore the literary practices of the Modern Literature School, led by Lin Yutang in the 1930s, in opening up a “critical space” through The Classic Conversations Fortnightly, from the perspectives of psychiatric and cultural studies. To analyze the psychological anxiety faced by members of the Modern Literature School and how this anxiety shaped their unique discursive strategies. Methods This study adopts a combined approach of psychiatric and close textual analysis to interpret the discourses of key figures of the Modern Literature School and the humorous, satirical texts published in the journal, subtexts, and schizotypal psychological traits in their discourse. Results The exploration by the Modern Literature School profoundly reflects the existential and moral anxiety of liberal intellectuals in a highly oppressive political environment; The cultural stance of the School exhibits a typical structural split; The practices of the School reflect a cultural and psychological projection of the collision between the traditional “Dao” of Chinese literati and the public role of modern intellectuals. Conclusions The “critical space” opened by The Classic Conversations Fortnightly was far more than a mere platform for literary humor. It was a psychological and cultural field formed under specific historical pressures, full of internal tensions and contradictions, and exhibits the characteristics of structural personality split in the sense of psychiatry. This kind of dissociation is not pathological schizophrenia, but an adaptive personality dissociation under long-term stress, a psychological protection model in response to the conflict between the external environment and internal cognition.