“The Disease of Killing”——The Disenchantment and Reenchantment of Zhang Guixing’s "Wild Boars Cross the River"

Abstract

Zhang Guixing's recent work “Wild Boars Cross the River” contains not only a disenchantment narrative from individuals to nationalities and even species, but also a re-enchantment narrative constructed from three major symbols: monsters, masks, and opium. The novel performs a spectacular killing writing in the historical narrative, and its “disease of killing” overflows the historical period and penetrates into the current era. This article uses Max Weber's concept of “disenchantment” arising from his discussion of modernity and the resulting concept of “re-enchantment” as a benchmark to discuss the phenomena of “disenchantment” and “re-enchantment” in “The Wild Boars Cross the River”. And discuss how, with the balance between the two mentioned above, the novelist directly expresses the nihilistic spirit of the times through the writing of killings in historical narratives.