Intergeneration and Class: Theoretical Coordinates of Youth Image

The paper explores two discourse systems for the interpretation of youth images since the May Fourth New Literature Movement: youth discourse and class discourse. The premise of youth discourse is the intergenerational relationship between the youth and the elderly, which emphasizes the vitality, courage and innovation of the youth. However, the class discourse emphasizes the different positions of the various class communities within the economic and power structure. Actually, intergenerational biological relationships often work through social relationships, and classes constitute the main interpretation of social relations. Since the May Fourth New Literature Movement, the image of youth has often been positioned as " petty bourgeoisie” in class discourse. After the 1950s, the transformation of youth discourse and class discourse formed various special literary criticism events. After the 1980s, the convergence of various elements of youth discourse and class discourse constitutes a complex and flexible analytical model. The emergence of a consumer society has created a youth image of the middle class. How the middle class and the youth discourse are combined is the theoretical subject for the future.