【现当代文学史论文】《ReviewofResearchonChineseFictionintheTwentiethCentury》.docVIP

Review of Research on Chinese Fiction in the Twentieth Century Yan Jiayan It might be difficult to imagine today that In ancient China some people included shihua（notes on poets and poetry）cihua（notes on ci poetry）in the category of xiaoshuo（fiction; lit;“small talk”）． This classification, however absurd ,nevertheless appropriately revealed the traditional cultural concept that fiction had no place in the hall of literature；it was regarded as light reading of little importance and served at most as a dependency of or supplement to history books and biographies．In such a situation, traditional research on fiction mainly assumed two forms； fragmentary comments（i.e, heterodox learning）and notes on source materials（whereby fiction“emended deficiencies in the histories”）． It took a long time for fiction research to evolve from this traditional pattern to its present condition． The transformation began at the turn of the century, around the time of Kang Youwei and Liangqichao’s reform movement． The publication in 1902 of the magazine Xin xiaoshuo（New Fiction）marked the gradual spread into China of Western concepts of fiction．In its introduction to the“commentator”column of New Fiction， the newspaper Xinmin Congbao（New People’s Daily） announced that the column would“discuss the literary value of fiction，its influence in society，its evolution both East and West，the merits and virtues of fiction writers, and the needs and means for initiating“a revolution in Chinese fiction．”1This succinct statement indicated the revolutionary orientation of fiction and summarized the changes in the concept of fiction．Fiction was no longer regarded as“Insignificant．”Rather，“It possesses an inconceivable power for influencing people’s modes of living，”and plays an important role in the improvement of administration and enlightenment．Efforts were being made to Introduce western concepts of fiction，including the“realist fiction” and“idealist fic