Turning For Popularization

This dissertation studies the Wenyan (Classical Chinese) stories in Song Dynasty. It takes the Song novel as a cultural phenomenon and interprets them from three interlocked aspects, namely, social culture, literary ecological environment, and the text itself. By discussing the cultural, and literary transfiguring representations in Song Wenyan stories and the stories' relation to the transition, this dissertation finally reveals the inevitable trend for popularization for Song Wenyan stories, and brings the phenomena and essence of Song Wenyan stories to light.This dissertation consists of two parts, which in turn, contain ten chapters. Part One, namely, the first six chapters aims at a general survey, and Part Two includes four chapters of case studies.Chapter One aims at a macro study of the historical development of the novels in Tang and Song Dynasties, revealing the representations and causes for the ideological development and stylistic changes. The change of fiction in Tang and Song Dynasties is not merely the transformation from Tang Chuanqi (tales) to Song Huaben (vernacular stories). In fact, Compared with Tang Fiction, Song fiction, on the whole, undertook a significant change. It is generally acknowledged that, in comparison with Tang Chanqi, Song fiction declines. But the surface representations reflect the real change in essence. The stylistic change in Song Dynasty is the main cause for the decline of Tang Chuanqi.Chapter Two examines the fiction transformation from the perspective of the Tang-Song cultural transition. The turning of Song fiction for popularization is both the result of the Tang-Song cultural transition and the profound reflection of the cultural transition as well. Song Wenyan stories have the propensity for popular culture. This, in essence, is the change of literary ideology and the shift of values standards for narratives.Chapter Three explores the trend for popularization of Song stories against the background of the Song literature in general, and gives a detailed description of the communication between novels and high-brow literature. The Song literature in general shows a trend towards popular literature. Song stories' turning for popularization is a representation of the trend for popularization in literature in...