The Freedom Beyond The Border

Both in Chinese and western literature, the spread of classic works generation by generation have great influences on literature changing later. This kind of influences is reviewed clearly in the intertexuality relationship between the texts. In literary reading and critism, we could always discover that many texts absorb, change or transform some earlier classical texts. Then a new style of literature could be created. In addition, some texts which have been relevant to the writer would be transformed into his or her new work, while becoming part of the context of the new text. The relationship between the certain texts in which they influence or refer to each other is always the focus of intextuality theory.The theory of intertextuality developed in 1960s. From this point of view, every text exists in the relationship of intertextuality with other texts. A new text is produced by absorbing and transforming other texts exsisted before. The critism of intertextuality tries to find out the trace of transforming in the texts. In this thesis, we would research the intertextuality between classic texts and Lu Xun's Old Stories Retold and three short fictions written by Franz Kafka in the view of intertextuality theory. Lu Xun or Franz Kafka were both great masters of modern literature in 20th century. Old Stories Retold draws materials from Chinese classical myth and folk tales. In this obviously absurd work, the writer recomposed and fabricated the classical myth and tales while alluding the reality of Chinese society. In comparision, the three fictions of Kafka's draw materials from the ancient Greek mythology. In these works, the writer wrote modern annotations for ancient Greek heroes and Gods, and created new possibilities of the plot for the Greek mythology. Kafka's fictions have deep implications as fables.'Parody' is the major strategy used both in LuXun's and Kafka's works. In parodying mythology and epic, the original narrative structure of the text is dismantling and reconstructing, a new narrative order is established in the new text. This paper analyzes the narrative strategies of Lu Xun and Kafka writing with the parody. Two modern writers broke and recomposed the order of time and space in original texts, and put modern languange and elements into the narrative structure of classical mythology and epic. The dimensions of time and space in new texts appear ambiguous and chaos. With these strategies, novels take a new look and review a series of common characters, in which subvert the inherent order of the myth and epic. Luxun and Kafka both completed the modern disenchantment of myth, while also greatly expanded the freedom inside the text space, providing infinite possibilities for the fictions.