A Corpus-Driven Interpretation For Red Poppies

Alai’s Red Poppies won the fifth Mao Dun Literature Award in 2000. From then on, it has become a focus of readers and researchers. Based on the corpus-driven approach and the literature review, the data and evidence derived will be employed to interpret the novel from the following four perspectives: the three main male characters, the female characters, the physical parts—FACE as well as the words related to Alai’s hometown. The four perspectives can be grouped into two general angles: macro angle and micro angle, including the theme of the novel, the analysis of the narrative perspective, as well as the writer’s hometown complex. Then the author comes to the conclusion. Firstly, in the novel Red Poppies, “I” as a narrator, an involver, a witness, and a commentator, the four-in-one integration reveals the novel’s themes, the characters’ destiny and the writer’s self-identity. Secondly, Chieftain Maichi, tempted by the power, sexual desire and wealth, may be viewed as a cultural symbol for worldly desire. However, Wangpo Yishi is a cultural symbol for the positive force against the decayed chieftain system. Thirdly, the author holds that Alai’s creation of female images in his novel Red Poppies has its own limitations, since all the female characters can be summarized as being submissive, seductive, subversive, ignoble, and selfish. Alai was especially concerned about women’s weakness and faults, which reflects that the male-dominant thought has affected the writer’s writing in a deep way. Fourthly, a large number of faces and tongues in the novel enhances its visualization and promotes its expressive force. Fifthly, Alai’s identity recognition has been fully shown in his hometown description and his hometown complex. Lastly, in the part of conclusion, there is a summary of the implications of the findings, together with the limitations of this current research, as well as the possible future research directions.