The Major Modes And The Profound Cultural Connotations Of Private Genealogy

Private genealogy is an important part of history in china, the narrative substances in its texts are one organic part of historical narratology. The private genealogy narrative is just a theoretical knowledge system which analyses some contents of related texts from an angle of narratology. Hayden White, an American philosopher, and Zhang Kaiyan, a Chinese scholar, are pioneers who have made great contributions in their respective regions, historical narratology and cultural narratology. This paper will use the relevant knowledge about historical narratology and cultural narratology to study the texts of private genealogy, and try to finish the next three tasks:the first one, to prove the possibility of researching the narrativity of private genealogy by comparing and analyzing the difference between the historical and cultural narratology; the second one, to conclude the major modes of private genealogy by utilizing theories on the historical and cultural narratology and indirectly answer some questions about reality and fictionality, subjectivity and objectivity in the narrative texts by studying some aspects, such as narrative styles、 narrative discourses、legendary plots of figures、the potential ideology and so on; the third one, to expend a new area for the historical narratology by a holistic approach to the narrativity of private genealogy.This paper will include the following six parts:The introduction:firstly, to tell background and meaning of writing this paper; secondly, to discuss the research outcomes related with this paper; finally, to clarify this paper’s creativity which has a closed connection between private genealogy and narratology by using two research ways separately from the historical and the cultural narratology.Chapter one:to divide the narrative texts into macro、mid、micro narrative style by applying the historical narrative theories. Then, to labor the texts’structures、 narrative time、narrative perspectives and the narrativity on genogram.Chapter two:to discuss the narrative discourses from the perspective of historical narratology, and analyze narrative discourses in private genealogy from the two levels, the one is from the specific narrative objects, the other is from the unique patriarchal clan idea and ideology from the special descriptions on lineage history and figures. From the above, we can know that narrative discourses are the combination of the direct meanings and transferred meanings, a great number of direct meanings can not be departed from the transferred meanings, and the analyses of the transferred meanings not only include some rhetorical language, for example, metaphor、 metonymy、synecdoche and so on, but also contain detailed narrative researches on image. Beside, this paper also borrows some cases in part of private genealogy texts.Chapter three:From the angle of the subjectivity and inevitability of biographical characters’ life stories, we can make some narrative analyses of biographies in private genealogy, conclude the arranged modes about plots structures in biographies of private genealogy and carve them up four types:encouragement-oriented、 flaunt-oriented、tragedy-oriented and undermeaning-oriented type under the whole consciousness in ancestor worship.Chapter four:From the perspective of cultural narratology, we discuss the potential ideology which mainly contains ancestor worship、reproduction worship、the paramountcy of consanguinity and man chauvinism, and cultural function which mainly covers the knowledge construction of lineage history; conveys the patriarchal clan idea to meet the sense of human’s belonging; encourages clansmen to make efforts and bring glory on their ancestors; strengthen the lineage culture、vertical linkage in social organizations and cultural space in the rural population for sake of social control and stability.Conclusion:we would learn that the narrative forms of private genealogy can be devided into macro、mid、micro narrative style by analyzing its narrative texts; its discourses are the combination of the transferred meanings and direct meanings, which the latter is more important; we also know that there are many abundant ideology by considering its narrative. Therefore, it is completely true to make some studies on the narrative of private genealogy, and also expands the space of narrative researches.