Documenting And Constructing:An Analysis On The Narrative Characteristics Of Feature Articles

The feature,as a crucial genre in journalism,often depicts the facets of an era through the fate of individuals.In comparison to the concise and straightforward news reports,feature articles offer greater depth and breadth in both vertical and horizontal dimensions,making them ideal for presenting and deconstructing the intricate social reality of China during its transitional period.Thus,it holds special significance to analyze the narrative patterns and artistic techniques of classic works to effectively narrate contemporary Chinese stories.As the core subject of this study,feature articles are essentially non-fictional news texts and the origin of the term "documenting" in the title.The term "constructing" refers to the process by which news feature journalists reproduce and construct the narrative acceptance of the facts based on their existing knowledge and experience.This paper adopts a narratological perspective to explore the production of news feature texts,selecting 45 feature articles as the research sample which written by the journalist Zhao Hanmo,a typical figure in the field of feature writing.Drawing on the theoretical contributions of French structuralist Gérard Genette,this study analyzes the narrative characteristics of feature articles at three levels: story,narration,and discourse.The study reveals that,at the story level,with regard to thematic selection,Zhao Hanmo employs two story types: "temporal exemplars" and "personal stories." Based on the narrative logic driven by the social environment and personal psychology,two story frameworks are constructed,namely the era issue framework of "focusing on social development",and the value display framework of "as an independent individual".At the narrative level,the characteristics is demonstrated by her adept use of narrators and narrative perspectives,as well as the seamless integration and coherence of story-based narrative sequences and "variable" structures,employing both causal linear and multilinear interwoven structures.At the discourse level,Zhao Hanmo precisely controls the unity of authenticity and and literariness of feature articles through the selection of micro structure such as vocabulary and balancing subjectivity and objectivity in details and evaluations at the macro structure.While skillfully using literary techniques to enhance the quality of the story,she always regards the truth of news as the life and soul of feature articles.Ultimately,in the context of the shift from elite narratives to civilian narratives within the current media landscape,this article identifies and summarizes several key challenges faced by feature articles.These challenges encompass,the decline of traditional media,the generalization of topic selection,the controversy over the authenticity.To address these issues,this research examines Zhao Hanmo’s narrative characteristics and offers insights,providing valuable guidance and inspiration for other media organizations committed to producing in-depth features.