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A modernist’s realist fiction: on three realist novellas by Ye Zhaoyan

University of British Columbia

Among contemporary Chinese modernist writers, Ye Zhaoyan is highly respected for the sincere and honest style that he has displayed in his modernist experimental fiction. His modernist experiments have been the focus of many previous studies. Ye has also been a realist from the very beginning of his literary career. His realist fiction, however, is still largely ignored by critics. Since there has been a surprising literary trend in recent years in which many modernist writers such as Yu Hua, Su Tong, Ge Fei, Hong Feng and Bei Chun have switched to write realist fiction, it is of interest and significance to study Ye's realist practice which proceeds the current trend. In this thesis, the author will analyze the characteristics of Ye Zhaoyan's realist fiction using as examples three of his novellas, "Hanging Green Apples," "Love Song" and "Faded Shadows." By comparing the characteristics of the three novellas with those of realist fiction in the immediate post-Mao era, traditional fiction and modernist fiction, the author suggests that Ye Zhaoyan's realist fiction reflect his attempt to bridge the gap between realism and modernism, and to weave popular fiction elements into serious literature. Ye's writings represent the efforts of the Chinese modernists to adjust to the current change in the cultural trend by lessening rather than intensifying the contradiction between the old and the new, and between the Chinese tradition and the impact of Western culture.

Thesis/Dissertation

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2009-02-12

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http://hdl.handle.net/2429/4537

Asian Studies

University of British Columbia

UBCV

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