From The Perspective Of "narrative Intervention", The Research On The Transformation Of Novel Narration In The Late Qing Dynasty And The Early Republic Of China

During the Late Qing Dynasty and Early Republic of China,the narrative mode of the traditional Chinese chapter-type novels underwent an evolution while the status of Chinese novel literature advanced.It is of necessity to explore why this evolution occurred as well as its dynamics,features and influence.This dissertation studies the narrative mode of novels from the functional character "narrator".By exploring the text through the narrator,it studies the role of the narrator's subjectivity of the text from a "narrative intervention"perspective and thereby describes the operating mechanism embodied within the text.The narrator's manipulation of the text is called "narrative intervention",which is the influence of the narrative subject on the narrative behavior and narrative strategy,and an important method of novel theme construction,textual meaning generation as well as rhetorical effect improvement.As both the subject of narration and the subject of "narrative intervention",the narrator is the focus for studying the narrative mode of novels,which has rich academic connotations and extensions,helping researchers explore deeper in the complex text world.The study of the form features of novels and the presentation of the narrator's subjectivity can strongly explains its structure,operation and forms of aesthetics.From the macro level,the whole text is the result of narratorial intervention;while microscopically,the narrator can control the narrative perspective,narrative communication,narrative structure,stylized features,and critical discourse,etc.The narrative text is a representation of the narrator's manipulation of the story materials,which contains his narrative motive,rhetorical intention and ethical position.Drawing on the novel texts of the Late Qing Dynasty and Early Republic of China,the dissertation focuses on its narratorial intervention behaviors as well as the form features and evolution patterns,and discusses the evolution of the narrative mode within the socio-historical context of the time.Also,it takes into consideration the influences of novel revolution,development of publishing industry and novel translation activities,and tries to avoid the dogmatic symbolic analysis while doing the text interpretation.In addition,based on the macro-analysis and micro-analysis model of "narrative intervention",the author studies the object,the mode and the intention of intervention.It also analyzes in detail the features of the narrative perspective,narrative communication,narrative structure,narrator's comments,translator's intervention,as well as the complex form features of novel texts in this particular period.The dissertation is divided into four parts:Chapter 1,Chapter 2,Chapters 3-7,and Chapter 8,which respectively contains: an overview of the narrative transformation of novels in Late Qing Dynasty and Early Republic of China,reconstruction of the research scope of the "narrative intervention",an analysis of the five dimensions of the narrative transformation of novels in Late Qing Dynasty and Early Republic of China using "narrative intervention",and the theme demonstration and the rationality enhancement using typical examples.It ultimately points to two textual features: "self-restriction of narrative power" and "self-enlargement of narrative power".Current studiesbelieve that these two textual features are both contradictory and unified,which represents the complex changes of the narrator's subjectivity as well as the contradiction and tension between the variability and the invariability of the novel texts,and reflects the transitional state of the novels from the classical form to the modern form.There are two main ways for the narrator to realize the "self-restriction of narrative power": one is the consciousness of perspective change.Through the transition from an omniscient view to a limited view,the narrator is no longer omniscient,but becomes confused about something,which highlights the subjective consciousness of the characters in the text and realizes the self-restriction of narrative power.The second is to change the mode of narrative communication.The narrator gradually dilutes the narrators' traces of being the storyteller and changes the stylized communication mode between the narrator and the narrated.In addition,the narrator enriches the discourse mode of features with an extensive use of free direct speech,free indirect speech and direct speech without reported statements,which greatly enriches the expressiveness,semantic density and emotional conveyance of language.This also helps to highlight the presence of characters,reduce the presence of the narrator,create contextual pressure,conceal the narrator's own identity and restrict narrative power.There are three ways to fulfill the self-enlargement of narrative power for the narrator: One is to change the narrative structure.The narrator integrates the "spatial structure" and the "time structure" to highlight the space-time features of the narrative structure;varies the causality and the sequence of the time structure by flash-forward,analeptics,intercalated and supplementary narration,etc.,and creates the narrative space by constructing the character line and the theme line;realizes the vertical development of narrative structure through episodic structure and layered narration,and builds a typical narrative structure in the horizontal and vertical dimensions.The second is to highlight the comments on "story" and "discourse".By using comments as an important means of intervention,the narrator comments on the plots,characters,themes and narration itself,which highlights the value orientation,ethical intention and meta-narrative consciousness and realizes the self-enlargement of narrative power.The third is to highlight the translator's subjectivity.Translators re-narrate the novel while translating.Through the "intervention" of narrative themes,characters,plots and narrative language,translators make the narrative mode of translated novels more consistent with the cultural norms of the target language,the readers' cultural background and reading habits,and form the special textual features of translated novels in this period,which has brought obvious influence on the narrative mode of the original Chinese novels.In summary,the narrators of the Late Qing Dynasty and Early Republic of China have both self-restriction and self-enlargement of the narrative power.On the whole,the subject consciousness of the narrator is relatively prominent,which reflects the complex textual features of traditional novels in this special period.The novels of the Late Qing Dynasty and Early Republic of China are in the middle of the transitionfrom ancient form to modern form,during which period the coda of the narrative tradition and the quality of modern novels coexist;it not only inherits,activates and innovates the traditional narrative mode,but also learns,uses for reference and applies the narrative techniques of Western modern novels.It is clear that the Late Qing Dynasty and Early Republic of China is a key stage in the developmental of Chinese novel narratives.The chapter-style narrative mode realizes the transformation in the mutual agitation of Chinese and Western cultures;The narrative techniques of translated novels stimulated the part of the narrative tradition of Chinese novels that was obscured by time.The non-mainstream narrative techniques in traditional novels such as restricted narration,psychological narration,flashback narration and free direct quotation are activated and used more and more frequently in this period,endowing traditional novels with new vitality.Western narrative themes,such as modern thoughts,legal spirit and democratic consciousness,have become the focus of novels in this period.Studying the manifestation,causes and development trend of the evolution in the narrative mode of novels in the Late Qing Dynasty and Early Republic of China is helpful to enrich the "narrative poetics" of Chinese novels and further guide the creation practice of novels.Therefore,the study of this dissertation has high theoretical value and practical significance.The study believes that the narrative techniques of Western novels participate in the transformation of the narrative mode of Chinese novels during this period,which influences the path,mode and trend of novel's transformation,and promotes the development,evolution and transformation of the narrative mode of the novels together with the tradition of Chinese novels.The Western narrative practice provides a paradigm of reference and contrast for the construction and development of Chinese narrative poetics.The development of narrative theory and the creative practice of novels in the Late Qing Dynasty and Early Republic of China—the starting stage of modern novels,both represent the transitional features of conservative and innovative coexistence.The modern consciousness of traditional novels is gradually highlighted in the diegetic level and discourse level.Since then,both Chinese narrative studies and practices of novel writing have embarked on the road of modernization.