Comparative Studies On Characteristics And Narrative Techniques Of Literary Journalism In The United States And Its Counterpart In China

In recent years,studies on "Literary Journalism" has received more and more attention in the Western academic world,but there are few mention of this concept in China.The academic community generally agrees that the New Journalism movement in the United States in the 1960s and early 1970s is an era of the historical development of "Literary Journalism" that began in the late 20th century or earlier.As a style that combines literary techniques and news writing norms,it has different names in various countries of the world,such as narrative journalism,non-fiction literature,documentary journalism,and literary reportage.In previous studies,when referring to this writing form's manifestation in China,it was often referred to as"Baogao Wenxue",which literally means "Reportage Literature" or "Literary Reportage".At the same time,contemporary Chinese "Fei Xugou"(literally means non-fiction)writers usually trace their writings influenced by New Journalism and rarely link themselves with"Baogao Wenxue".This study attempts to re-recognize "Baogao Wenxue" and non-fiction writing in China and its origins by comparing the similarities and differences of characteristics and narrative techniques among literary journalism in the United States,"Baogao Wenxue",and"Fei Xugou".This study builds its theoretical framework based on inductive approach,narrative theory,and media system theory.Through analysis of representative works of Literary Journalism,Baogao Wenxue and Fei Xugou selected based on ratings on Goodreads and China's largest book rating platform Douban,combined with case studies of two classics,Hiroshima and The Great China Earthquake,this study drew the following conclusions:1)Neither Baogao Wenxue nor Fei Xugou alone can represent Literary Journalism's counterpart in China as this form is reflected in both camps but not identical with each of both;2)Literary Journalism,Baogao Wenxue and Fei Xugou share a lot of similarities in terms of characteristics and narrative techniques,such as they all always include in-depth background research,stress to accuracy,anthropological approach,"showing" mode of telling stories,etc.In terms of differences,Baogao Wenxue lays more focus on "Grand Narrative" while literary journalism pays more attention to everyday lives of common folks,which is also emphasized by Fei Xugou to some extent.3)On discussing China's own terms and tradition,Baogao Wenxue is in decline while Fei Xugou is getting more popularity.The reason behind the decline is on many aspects:cannot adjust it well with media market,no desire for innovation over the years,lost its advantage as a style with truthful narratives it used to have,political intervention,to list some.This study is also an attempt of rediscovering a declining genre and an emerging one through comparative studies with their similar form in the U.S.,by doing so one can have a better understanding on historical landscape of a form of writing in his own nation.