On The Two Historical Narrative Methods Applied In Li Jieren’s The Trilogy

Li Jieren’s The Trilogy is a novel with historical events from 1840 to 1919 as the theme. In the novel, some differentiated narrative methods are applied. This paper exploits the concept by Paul A. Cohen, an American historian that there are three accesses to history (that is History in Three Keys:The History as Event, Experience, and Myth), to study the difference and relations among these narrative methods. As history as event and experience is obviously manifested in the novel while history as myth is a writing technique that is avoided as far as possible in The Trilogy of the first edition and is somehow reflected in the revision occasionally. Accordingly, the first two narrative methods are the big picture in this paper.The Trilogy took much attention is paid to representing history with historical materials and textual criticism, which is similar to history as event to a certain degree. Based on the "accuracy of knowledge", historians interpret history with the existing historical materials, which reflects the purpose of narrators to represent history in a correct, truthful and comprehensive way, consistent with the creating concept by Li Jieren of demonstrating social life in a comprehensive and truthful way.At the same time, The Trilogy attaches importance to figures in the history and illustrates the historical feelings through the ups and downs of their fates. Such a narrative method of "based feelings" and "conceive the world through feelings" has something in common with history as experience. Both throw light upon the part that is of great significance to individuals. However, "historians seldom attach enough importance to it and myth creators never take it into consideration".Li Jieren demonstrates historical feelings through an analysis of the cause of historical development. He deems history as event as the cause of history as experience of figure and deems history as experience as the historical response to history as event. This is Li Jieren’s creation purpose of "study the cause to highlight the feelings".Such two narrative methods are reflected in the text from two aspects:figures and customs. Li Jieren endows customs with the same equality as figures and deems customs as part and parcel of history.Figures in The Trilogy are in two types:historical figures and fictional figures. The description of historical figures refers to literatures and reflects the narrative method of history as truth. Fictional figures are constructed based on the author’s life experience and reflect the behaviors and mental state of figures in the development of history, which actually, is the history as experience.There are two kinds of customs in The Trilogy:custom description independent from the plot and textual criticism, and custom demonstration combined with story lines. The former is somehow overwhelmed with the temperament of historians while the latter is the history as experience in which writer think highly of individual emotional experience.To apply the two narrative methods in The Trilogy has something to do with Li Jieren’s literature resources. The characteristics of impersonality, truthfulness and delicacy of naturalism intensify the narrative of history as event while humanistic concern of realism highlights the historical feeling reflected by history as experience.The two differentiated narratives coexist with combination and conflict in the text. Li Jieren makes a lot of efforts to combine the two. For example, he highlights the response of history as experience to history as event; he tries to balance the two in the transfer from history as experience into history as event. However, there are still conflicts. History as experience cannot response to history as event in an effective way; in order to fulfill the narrative of history as event, it is a must to add in a lot of functional characters, which results in simplification of images of characters; too many quotations of historical materials (most of them are quoted in their entirety) disturb the narrative rhythm.Li Jieren rewrote The Trilogy after the establishment of the People’s Republic of China. Subject to subjective willingness of authors, the rewriting is more a reflection of Li Jieren’s individual style in the universal trend of rewriting. In the revision, the two narrative methods are accordingly altered. The practices such as directly involving with historical sites through straight quotation of historical materials and frontage description, etc. intensify history as event. On the contrary, history as experience is weakened. The gap between the two is intensified and even results in crack. In addition, there is a tendency that history as experience may transfer into history as myth in the revision, which manifests the influence on the creation of writers by mainstream ideology.