在中国现代文学史上，沈从文是难以把握全貌的文学作家之一。虽然如今沈从文研究的质量和数量都很充实，但其大部分倾向于关注他文学作品之艺术性，因此往往忽略在特殊时代背景下表现出来的其革命性。实际上，从他的许多短篇小说和散文中，我们会容易地发现左翼思潮和革命理想的痕迹。虽然沈从文始终一贯与左翼文坛的革命活动刻意保持距离，但我们不应该简单地将沈从文放在自由知识分子或民族主义者的位置，并抹杀其文学作品里很明显的独特左翼倾向。不过，考虑到左翼知识分子对沈从文所进行的严厉批判的后果，以二十世纪三十年代主流的左翼文艺理论来考察沈从文的这种倾向是不太合理的。为了探讨该课题，笔者通过直接引用马克思、恩格斯的言论，尤其是他们对人性和革命、革命和文学之间关系的观点，从“左边”对沈从文崎岖坎坷的人生及其文学作品加以分析。 从“左边”来看沈从文时，笔者认为这里有三个关键因素：人性、革命和文学。关于人性问题，必须注意在现代社会上的“个人”的崛起以及“类人”的衰退，正如青年马克思在《1844年经济学哲学手稿》里讨论该题，并自此进入经济基础的研究，我们能够从“人性异化”的视角讨论革命的问题。就沈从文的革命观而言，虽然我们无法把他视为革命文学作家，但要注意他的小说和散文里散见的革命形象及其含义，笔者通过对此加以分析评论以考察沈从文对成为烈士的挚友们以及理想主义所抱有的情感。其次，讨论沈从文犹豫不决而最终没有参加革命活动的原因时，关键的是沈从文对文学事业的毅力，尤其是他对文学和政治之间关系所持有的独特理解。 无论在历史长河中如何评述，把握一个文学作家的全貌是相当大的难题，因为他们把个人的苦闷和对类人的渴望混在自己的作品里。不过，正如沈从文所说的那样，文学作家兼有艺术家和革命家两个不同的性格，他们用锐利眼光能够看穿周围蔓延而不见的社会矛盾，并以虚构形式发出警告。作为一位自豪的文学作家，沈从文一贯坚持尽自己的一份责任。历史的讽刺是，沈从文对文学事业的不妥协态度导致他人难以发现他的另一面，即他将人性和革命辩证统一的尝试。笔者认为，随着马克思主义文艺思想研究逐渐发展，沈从文那样很难划分左右的文学作家研究也能够进入新的发展阶段。

In the history of modern Chinese literature, writer Shen Congwen is often considered too complicated to fully appreciate. Even though research on Shen Congwen has been substantial both in quantity and quality, many of the existing studies tend to focus only on artistry of his literary work, often neglecting the revolutionary qualities inherent to the historical context of his work. In fact, Leftist thinking and revolutionary idealism are easy to discern in many of his short novels and essays. Although Shen Congwen consciously kept a distance from the revolutionary activities of Leftist literary circles, he should not be so easily categorized as a liberal intellectual or a nationalist, which would obliterate the clear Leftist trend that characterizes his work. Yet the legacy of harsh Leftist criticism of Shen Congwen makes it difficult to appreciate his works through the major Leftist literary theories of the 1930s. Rather, in this thesis I analyze the twists and turns of his life and works by directly quoting the literary discourse of Marx and Engels, especially their views on the relation between revolution and its relationship with humanity and literature. Leftist appreciation of Shen Congwen is composed of three essential themes: humanity, revolution, and literature. Discussions of humanity must note the rise of the “individual” and the decline of “man as a whole” under modern society. Just as young Marx in his Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844 addressed this issue before moving on to the study of economic foundation, we can discuss the problem of “revolution” from the perspective of “alienation of humanity”. Regarding Shen Congwen’s views of revolution, even though he is not recognized as a revolutionary writer, the meaning embodied by the revolutionary figures dispersed in his literary works should not be neglected. By analyzing these revolutionary figures, we can examine the feelings Shen Congwen had for the intimate friends of his who sacrificed themselves for the revolutionary cause and their idealism. Furthermore, in order to better understand why Shen Congwen would eventually be hesitant to join revolutionary activities, his persistent emphasis of literature as a career cannot be underestimated, especially his understanding of the relationship between literature and politics. Regardless of how Shen Congwen evaluated in the long course of history, it is a challenging task to build a full picture of the writer. His writing is mixed with both his aspirations for humanity and the depression that he suffered from. Yet, just as Shen Congwen said that a writer has the characteristics of both an artist and a revolutionary, possessing a keen eye penetrating the social contradictions that are all but invisible to others, the writer is also able to issue warnings through fictional narratives. A proud writer, Shen Congwen was consistently loyal to his own career. The irony of history is that his uncompromising attitude toward literature as a career made it more difficult to discover his other side, namely his attempt to unify humanity and revolution through dialectical methodology. I believe that new developments in the study of Marxist literary thought can enable a new stage of development in the study of literary figures such as Shen Congwen, incapable of being classified as either “Left” or “Right.”