Family Narration In Bai Xianyong’s Novels

Family culture is always one of cores of the Chinese culture. Chinese literature isalso concentrating on family moral order and ideal value. A Dream of Red Mansionhas been a model of family literature since it was born. It has deeply influencedChinese modern literature in terms of its diversified narration, multilevel figures andpoetic conception. Bai Xianyong, who was born nobly, is familiar with thearistocratic life full of glistening hair decorations, while appreciates dreariness withdeserted courtyard and tattered carriages. And he understands deeply the sorrow andloneliness of marginal men. Through travelling in Guilin, Nanjing, Chongqing,Shanghai, Taibei and Hong Kong, he knows loneliness and homesickness of strangers.As time goes by, with his writing style which combines classic and modern literaryfeatures together, Bai Xainyong depicts the vanity and sorrow of reality and history,creates a series of female figures, and tells us deplorably beautiful, firm or helplessstories one by one. This thesis will put Bai Xianyong’s novels into family literaturesystem of Chinese modern literature and find out the origin and complex of his familynarration, according to his life experiences. From the view of the literary definition of“family”, this paper will illustrate the image system that consists of parents andchildren, and various women; close to the text, explain the family narrative art interms of the tragically aesthetic tone, the narrative structure, and the narrativelanguage and so on. Furthermore, this paper will seek for the origin of BaiXianyong’s literary works in the development course of the Taiwan literature, anddiscuss the historical position of his works in Taiwan even in mainland literature.