| Liu Zhen-yun, the famous modern writer who had made his name in litersture for the realist style in his earlier works, turned his eye of creation to the field of history. In the narrative of history in his new historical novel, which, while looking back on history via hometown, conveys a history of one's own thinking by means of monologue that is pinned to the experience of an individual, lies the desire to remold history. Mainly focusing on four aspects, that is, narrative strategy, historical concept, rhetorical strategy, and the relationship with his new realist novel, this thesis is to study the special spiritual and textual world in Liu's new historical novel.In Chapter Ⅰ, the author discusses the narrative strategy of Liu's new historical novel from four points. Firstly, narrative point of view: the nongovernmental point of view substituting the political one. To view from the nongovernmental standpoint, history is always molded by desire simultaneously. Liu's new historical novel restores humanity of his characters and extends the view of historical novel from important political issues to popular life, hence to bring out the feeling of historical verisimilitude. Secondly, his individualized narrative structure. Liu's new historical novel does not attach importance to characterization. While dispelling history with his artful fabrication freely, it gives expression to his personal view on history. Thirdly, the writer's concern about the unimportant persons. In his eyes, history is created by them. Fourthly, his narrative attitude shifting to play and joking. In his writing, with few exceptions all that is seemingly sacred and solemn - ranging from revolution to power, from mainstream ideology to family kinships - will get bogged down in the inherent qualities of human life, such as the atrocity of sex, power, and property, etc., which are all mercilessly played with and poked fun at in his work.Chapter Ⅱ is involved in the historical concept in Liu's work which expresses a circulating history. For the writer, history does not proceed straightly; it evolves in circles. History is the story of power, and men's fighting for itconstituting its development. The discourse of power runs through Liu's work, in which history is sort of an absurd objective being, hence there is a touch of fable here. At the same time the limitation of his outlook on history is also pointed out here: to view history as construction of power, though reasonable in one sense, will sink 'history' in darkness, which will then restrict the critique on history; furthermore, because failing to see its progress, the view of history as cycles get begged down in historical fatalism and nihilism of values.Chapter III studies the rhetorical strategy in Liu's new historical novel, which is carried out on two aspects: irony and fable. Irony had been the figure of speech he most often adopted. But to begin with Stories Tracked down in the Hometown, his irony got covered with a color of slipperiness, which became even more apparent in his later works, and hence weakening the effect of irony. His new historical novel also has quite a touch of fable. In his work, the speech and action of historical characters do not carry on any historical reliability. Though physically human, they are but signifiers denoting various possible significances. All this is but for the expression of the writer's view of history. The quality of fable is especially apparent here.In Chapter IV is a discussion of the relationship between his new historical novel and new realist novel. On the one hand, new historical novel is a variant of realism in historical representation, which portrays the disorder of history - a realist portrait in the writer's eyes. On the other hand, there is a consistent concern about the lower class people in his work. He notices the function of them while taking a critical attitude towards people. Furthermore, there is something in common between the rhetoric of the two points mentioned above, which is also discussed here. |
PDF Full Text Request