Study On The Prefaces And Postscripts Of The Anthology In Modern Times

The creation of traditional poetry and prose in modern times is still flourishing,political,economic,technological and other factors have joined forces to promote the publication of anthologies to flourish,gave birth to a large number of prefaces and postscripts of the anthology.Those prefaces and postscripts are rich in content,conveying important information to readers in the process of compilation,printing and circulation of the anthology.Influenced by modern political background,social environment,academic thoughts and other factors,prefaces and postscripts of the anthology show a dynamic and diversified development trend,which can be studied diachronically from three stages: the period from Jiaqing to Daoguang,Xianfeng to Tongzhi,Guangxu to Xuantong and the early years of the Republic of China.In different periods,the writing style and content expression all changed with it,reflecting the distinctive characteristics of the times.According to the different subjective relationship with the authors of the anthology,those prefaces and postscripts can be divided into self-made and other-made.Authors adopt different writing strategies when facing their own anthology or others.Prefaces and postscripts of the anthology in modern times not only further developed in creation,but also showed universal consciousness of theoretical discussion.Scholars actively expound the prose theory with prefaces and postscripts as the medium,involving the theory of writers,the theory of creation,the theory of function of literature and the theory of inheritance and innovation.The stylistic features of prefaces and postscripts of the anthology in modern times can be explored from four aspects: lines,register,genre and style.Lines is writing mode.Describing life,recalling contacts,describing the whole story,commenting on articles,elucidate literary ideas,narrating regional literary traditions and other common "components" have a relatively fixed narrative program and no fixed position.Literati often choose several "components",use them flexibly,combine them freely and play creatively.Register is the feature of language.In the form,the choice of parallel prose or prose is unrestricted,with prose as the main form and parallel prose as well.In terms of language style,the preface should be precise and to the point,the postscript should be simple and effective and vigorous,the language expression should be elegant,accurate and concise.Genre is the method of expression.Narration,discussion and lyricism are common,and most prefaces and postscripts combine the three or have some emphasis.Style is aesthetic taste.The preface should be fluent writing,concise language and full of emotion,and the postscript should be simplicity and express natural disposition and intelligence.The preface focuses on the collected works,the language is plain,and the discussion is pertinent.Postscript can focus on the anthology or the author’s feelings,it is lively and personal.Prefaces and postscripts of the anthology in modern times have both literary and document value.As the paratext,it has the function of guiding and spreading to the text.It plays an important role in the development history of prefaces and postscripts.It basically inherited from the previous generation in terms of content expression,writing mode,language features,expression methods,aesthetic taste,which was determined by the inherent stipulation of style,showing the stability of stylistic development and modern literati’s sense of respecting style.Modern times are in a unique period of evolution from ancient times to modern times and convergence between China and the West,influenced by the times,the prefaces and postscripts of the anthology show new features in content,media,language,function and so on,reflecting modern features.First,the media of the prefaces and postscripts expands from anthology to newspapers and periodicals.With newspapers and periodicals as the carrier,prefaces and postscripts have relative independence,and it is more convenient to publish and spread.With the help of this new platform,modern intellectuals spread traditional culture,make public expression,open up people’s wisdom,publicize the strong intention of healing and saving the nation,and construct cultural order through literary criticism.Second,modern literati transplanted western neologisms,reflected the changes of modern social ideology with literature.With the rise of the Vernacular Movement in the late Qing Dynasty,the prefaces and postscripts written in vernacular appeared for the first time,showing the reform practice of the prefaces and postscripts of the anthology written in modern times.Third,modern literati like to write game articles and attach importance to the entertainment function of prefaces and postscripts of the anthology.When they write,they are deliberately funny,it can not only amuse themself,but also satisfy the public’s entertainment interests.