Discussion On "New Notes Novels" Written By Gao Xiaosheng

Chinese contemporary writer Gao Xiaosheng was born in an ordinary peasant family which lived in Wujin, Jiangsu Province. He reveled in Chinese classical literature during his childhood under the influence of his father, and was natured by the traditional culture. Soon after emerging in literary world in the early1950s, Gao suffered injustice because of the "Explorer Literary League" event and reformed through laboring at home from1958to1978. After being reinstated in1979, Gao published several short stories such as "Li Shunda Builds a House","Chen Huansheng’s Adventure in Town" and created a typical character of Chinese peasants like Chen Huansheng which resonated among the literary critics and readers. These literary works brought Gao the National Excellent Short Story Award twice, and he quickly became one of the perfect writers in the early1980s.Almost at the same moment, Gao Xiaosheng began to published a great deal of fictions such as "The Briefcase","Fishing" which were totally different from realism style in "Chen Huansheng" series of novels. This trend ran through Gao Xiaosheng’s writing in the afternoon of his life and occupied an increasingly large proportion year by year, forming Gao’s unique literary aesthetic taste with the verve of the ancient notes novels. Though these literary works were similar to the "New Notes Novels" written by Sun Li, Wang Zengqi, Lin Jinlan and other writers in1980s and1990s, few comments or articles focused on them in the past because researchers paid excessive attention on such a few peasant characters like Li Shunda and Chen huansheng to try to figure them out again and again. The lack of discussing from the angle of the "New Notes Novels" is a defect in the study of Gao Xiaosheng’s literary works.On the basis of precedent achievements related, this essay seeks to open up new ideas:start with the reviewing of author’s works and life experiences, then use theories of narratology, psychology, sociology and so on to show a comprehensive analysis of the notes novels written by Gao Xiaosheng during the "New Period", after that, summarize the literary value of Gao Xiaosheng’s notes novels and give an objective assessment of its rightful place in Chinese contemporary literary history finally, thereby providing some useful reference for expanding the research field of Gao Xiaosheng’s work. The whole thesis intends to expound from the following five parts:As an exordium, Chapter I is established in interpreting several key concepts such as the "notes","novels","notes novels","New Notes Novels" carefully and accurately, and then lists all of Gao Xiaosheng’s notes novels including some writings which belong to the "New Notes Novels" area but have already been taken in volumes of essays. Next step is to grasp the writing background of Gao Xiaosheng’s notes novels, find out its cause of formation and highlight the importance of "New Notes Novels" among Gao Xiaosheng’s literary creation.Chapters II and III respectively start from two frameworks, namely,"the inheritance of ancient notes novels tradition" and "the ideological connotation of Gao’s literary works", secondly probe into Gao Xiaosheng’s writings according to the length of notes novels, the selection of subjects, the record of anecdotes, the style of writing, the narrative structure&viewpoint. After indicating the main features and artistic sources, it can be gradually pointed out that the strong local consciousness, the social contradictions and the spirit of the modern which hide in Gao’s bizarre stories and the tragic themes. Then the substance of Gao’s writings is ready to exposit and his works which contains the philosophical meanings&artistic achievements could be lucidly revealed.Among Gao Xiaosheng’s "New Notes Novels", the boundary between fictions and essays is fuzzy. Fictions are usually written like essays and vice versa. Chapter IV revolves around this phenomenon and analyzes the traditional literary core in Gao’s writings, moreover, Chapter IV will still discuss how the Western literary skills such as "stream of consciousness" influence Gao Xiaosheng’s creative practice. In one word, the emphasis is mainly on investigating how the transformation and integration occur during the process which leads Gao Xiaosheng’s notes novels from ancient times to the contemporary. The last section as an epilogue will describe the1980’s social background when "New Notes Novels" emerged in multitude, and point out that such works of Gao Xiaosheng combine the artistic qualities of both "Root-seeking Literature" and "Pioneering Literature". Under the fusion of Chinese classical literature and Western modern literature, Gao’s notes novels are worthy of masterpieces not only in the pursuit of art but also in the sense of Chinese contemporary literary history. While Gao Xiaosheng passed away in1999, the enduring value of his "New Notes Novels" remains.