Cannibalism in Lu Xun's short story "Diary of a Madman" is conventionally interpreted as a straightforward metaphor for feudal society. Drawing on a combination of immunological and psychoanalytical models

the current article attempts to challenge this canonized interpretations and argues that the work develops a complicated and nuanced understanding of the relationship between conservatism and reform

the individual and the community. At the same time

by juxtaposing the short story with another three articles published in the journal New Youth at about the same time

the article proposes that the thematics of cannibalism and community in "Diary of a Madman" are in dialogue with the immediate New Youth discursive environment within which the story was composed

and their significance can only be appreciated if they are approached collectively

rather than as individual pieces.