| Novels on the secret history of imperial palace are a novel type that can’t be ignored in the history of popular historical novels.There were a large number of writers and works in that regard.Most of the novels were written in period of the 1912 to 1949.Because the Chinese society was in the process of change,the printing industry was unprecedentedly developed,and the number of newspapers and magazines increased rapidly,reading had become an important and popular lifestyle.1912 to 1949 was a period when the novels on the secret history of imperial palace of were consumed by the masses.The series of Romance of Court of Chinese Dynasties unveiled the unknown inner secrets of the imperial Chinese palace chambers,including the stories behind the powerful emperors,life and destinies of many imperial concubines,life of princes and princesses,efforts and struggles of humble eunuchs and palace maids to change their own destinies,riveting stories of nobles,ministers and generals,enviable high-ranking officials who were unwilling to serve in the imperial court and other palace-related stories.Even at present,the academic circles pay inadequate attention to the study of novels on the secret history of imperial palace.This thesis conducts a study of novels on the secret history of imperial palace in the period of 1912-1949 during the Republic of China from the aspects of the production,publication,distribution,circulation and consumption of the novels on the secret history of imperial palace and from the perspectives such as historical memory writing and novel narrative strategies.The first part sorts out the historical data about the formation of the novels on the secret history of imperial palace.From the macro level,it defines the research subject and time scope of the novels on the secret history of imperial palace as well as the their type characteristics.At the same time,it analyzes how the novels on the secret history of imperial palace were produced and distributed,and then how they were published and disseminated the novels from the novel bookstores to the readers of the public.The timeframe of the novels on the secret history of imperial palace as a subject of study in this thesis is defined as from 1912 to 1949,and is likewise stipulated as from the founding of the Republic of China to the founding of New China.By combing through the publications of the writers and works of the novels on the secret history of imperial palace on the Shun Pao,and by comparing with other magazines,it is found out that the publicity and advertising efforts of the novels on the secret history of imperial palace on the Shun Pao focused on the significance of socializing impact on the production,distribution and circulation of the novels on the secret history of imperial palace and reporting the inner life of the palace from all aspects of social life.The pictures and advertisements in the Shun Pao had put the private life of the imperial palace under the limelight of the public and made it a hot topic in the society a multi-review and public voice,and the imaging of the emperors in particular reflected the needs for self-pleasuring.Starting from the production,publication and distribution of the novels,it is expected to discuss the dissemination paths of these novels on the secret history of imperial palace,how the historical romances that attracted the public reading was promoted,and reasons behind the readers’ fondness of the novels on the secret history of imperial palace.Taking the advertisements published in the Shun Pao as the entry point,the thesis also examines the attitude toward reading represented by the construction of the novels on the secret history of imperial palace,the effects of advertising and publicity of the Shun Pao on readers’ mentality and the profound cultivations of the ordinary people.In addition,efforts are to made to study the value and meaning of the novels on the secret history of imperial palace from the mentality of writers and readers respectively during the production and circulation of such novels.The second part analyzes in depth how the novels on the secret history of imperial palace depicted various anecdotes of the imperial court and palace and the beauty,ugliness,goodness and evilness of the human nature of the various dynasties,and dissects the social changes and the vicissitudes of earthly life of the dynasties from the perspective of collective memory,and analyze the image of the emperors constructed in the novels with the historical and cultural knowledge as purport.It conducts a pointed analysis and careful positioning of the various historical stories from the perspectives of collective memory and literary production.There are many works in the series of Romance of Court of Chinese Dynasties that reflect the historical and cultural phenomena of the imperial court and the mentality of production and circulation through depicting the self-cultivation of the court political figures of their times.This part of the thesis makes an emphatic analysis of the images of emperors in the novels on the secret history of imperial palace written from 1912 to 1949,the authors’ historical memories of the times of prosperity and dynasties,and the reasons of creating such imperial images.The third part discusses the narrative strategies and the styles and characteristics of the novels on the secret history of imperial palace.It makes a detailed analysis of the palace-related novels of Tang,Song,and Qing Dynasties,examines their narrative strategies from mainly the three aspects of amorous entanglements of heroes and beauties,romanticizing and legend-making,and entertainment and amusement and studies specific cases of novel narrative strategies and styles.Based on the actual novels,this part explores narrative features of the legend narrative,erotic narratives and chivalry narratives of the novels on the secret history of imperial palace,analyzes the background of novel creation from 1912 to 1949,and interprets the characteristics of specific novels.The narrative style of the novels on the secret history of imperial palace features reorganizing,rewriting and fictionalizing narratives of the original historical events,and the narrative structure of rearranging historical stories. |
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