| This thesis is a study of the formation of a traditional Chinese theory of the novel by a major pre-modern Chinese literary critic, Jin Shengtan (1608-1661).;By the seventeenth century, Chinese fiction had already developed into a sophisticated art form but it lacked a self-description system, i.e., a theoretical system to regulate the creation and reception of this literary genre. Consequently, this maturing genre was still slighted by the contemporary literati. Such a situation was not changed until the emergence of a critical discourse on the classic novel, the Shuihu zhuan (Water Margin).;In the year 1641, Jin Shengtan published his commentary edition of the Shuihu zhuan with a symbiotic system of metatexts attached to the novel. In this metatextual discourse, Jin successfully designed a critical apparatus of fiction criticism, defined the genre of the vernacular novel, and discovered the distinguishing characteristics and common literary principle governing fiction production and reception. The critical method, the theoretical conception, and the literary ideas formulated by Jin have effectively shaped the reception of the Shuihu zhuan in particular as well as the novel form in general ever since, thereby contributing to the formation of an indigenous theory of the novel.;This study of Jin Shengtan's critical discourse of the Shuihu zhuan delineates the perimeters of the theory of the novel he developed and situates this theory-formulating enterprise as far as possible in its historical and cultural context. The study takes the intimate and interdependent interplay between innovation and tradition as the central theme and focus of its scrutiny, i.e., aiming to establish the identity and status of the novel in the great Chinese literary tradition, through an examination of Jin Shengtan's critical reading of the Shuihu zhuan. |
