Myth Rewriting And The Old Tales Retold

After the spread and evolution in nearly thousands of years, from oral transmission to literary records, then to the publication of books, "White Snake" story is now shown in various literary forms, such as story, song, poetry, drama, movie, television, folk art and craft. It is the valuable spiritual and cultural heritage of Chinese nation. Until the contemporary era, the charm of "White Snake" story still exists. This story has been constantly adapted for televisions, movies, musicals, dramas, online games and so on. A variety of literary carriers display the old legend in different ways.The basic idea and theoretical framework of this paper is that through longitudinally combing the historical evolution of "White Snake" story and transversely comparing the different texts of "White Snake" story in contemporary literature, this paper studies the different adaptations of "White Snake" story in contemporary and the influence of "White Snake" story on contemporary literature, and then discovers the deep meanings of "White Snake" story in contemporary literature studies.The introduction presents the background of rewriting myth, the research purpose and the research significance of "White Snake" story, and describes the research status and development trends of "White Snake" story at home and abroad. The first chapter studies the development and evolvement of "White Snake" story, and describes the interpretation of the "White Snake" story by the time axis. The second chapter discusses the similarities and differences between different versions of "White Snake" story from two aspects of the novel text and film. Representative five novels and three films are selected for the comparison of "White Snake" story to acquire the deep level of thinking and research. The third chapter discusses the classic nature of "White Snake" story through four aspects:totemic beliefs, the classic of folk literature, prototype theory and folklore; explores the modernity of content theme, characters and adapted content, adapted form and communication carrier of "White Snake" story. The fourth chapter researches the influence of "White Snake" story on contemporary literature from the three aspects:the modern significance of reconstructing mythology, the continuity and influence of cultural and the comparison between "little tradition" and "great tradition".