「五四」包括狹義的青年政治運動與廣義的思想文化運動,本文以成舍我先生的「我要說話」為核心概念理解「五四」。作者從成先生與廣狹「五四」的歷史脈絡關係切入,透過「我要說話」詮釋「五四」帶給中國的傳播生態及思想文化改變,是「五四」讓中國邁入獨特的「口語傳播時代」。「五四」中的「我要說話」主要展現在三方面─作為教育宣傳工具的「演說」、作為思想解放工具的「辯論」,以及作為實用書寫工具的「白話」。作者分析,演說、辯論與白話所造就的口語傳播時代,讓這位「康先生」為「賽先生」與「德先生」的抽象理念找到具體實踐路徑,使知識分子透過啟迪民智實現救國強國。而「五四」時期的口語傳播發展,深遠地影響了其後百年的中國。
The so called May Fourth Movement refers narrowly to a youth political movement and broadly to an ideological and cultural movement. This thesis applies concepts from Cheng She-Wo's "I want to talk" to decode the significance of May Fourth in Chinese history. The author first documents Cheng's personal connections with May Fourth, then describes how "I want to talk" best depicts the changes occurring in culture and communications ecology at the time. Changes evolved into an Age of Speech Communication. This age occurred through the introductions of three forms of communication: public speaking, debate, and baihua (writing in vernacular, modern style). Through these concrete practices of the concept embodied in "I want to talk," the author argues that the primary May Fourth goals, namely strengthening China by promoting "Mr. Democracy" and "Mr. Science," were realized by the coming of "Mr. Communication." This development of Chinese communication ecology changed China for a century.