Epic And Novel In The Novels Of Mikhail Sholoholokhov And Quiet Flows The Don And Chen Zhongshi White Deer Plain:A Comparative Analysis

And Quiet Flows the Don,the epic novel by Mikhail Sholokhov in four volumes,is considered as one of the most significant works of Russian literature of the 20th century.It depicts a wide panorama of life of the don Cossacks during the First World War,the revolutionary events of 1917 and civil war in Russia.Sholokhov received the Nobel Prize for literature for this novel in 1965 "for the artistic power and integrity of the epic about the don Cossacks at a crucial time for Russia".White Deer Plain is the masterpiece of a modern Chinese writer Chen Zhongshi.The background of the novel is in the Guanzhong Plain.The novel describes the dispute between the Bai family and the Lu family,it reflects the painful transition that Chinese farmers experienced from the end of the Imperial era of China to the establishment of new China.It shows the rise and fall of patriarchal system and moral principles in 60 years.This novel enjoyed an overwhelming praise from its first publication.In 1997,Chen Zhongshi received the Maodun Literary Award,the most prestigious literary award in China,for this novel.By comparing And Quiet Flows the Don with White Deer Plain,it can be said that the two works are all epic works that share similar plots and tragic figures.Both of the two works are in the context of historical events and both are epic works with tragic figures with great sense of history and sense of reality.The leading characters in the two works share similar contradictory characters and are wavering in the transition of history.It is said that Sholokhov had a huge influence on Chen Zhongshi's literary creations.The influence is based on not only the huge influence ofRussia-Soviet literature on Chinese literature in the second half of 20th century,but also Chen's personal love for Sholokhov's works.In "the Fatal book in my life," Chen Zhongshi wrote,"I remember,Sholokhov's And Quiet flows the don is the first foreign novel I have read,at the time,the don Cossacks have left me a strong impression." Chen believed that literature is the best way to communicate among different peoples and different countries.Sholokhov's influence on Chen Zhongshi's literary creation and the similarities in the two works offer an opportunity and proof for the research in this thesis.This thesis is of great theoretical and practical value.On the one hand,researches on the two works in China are mainly researches on the relations among the figures,researches on their epic characters and poetics are very rare.In this way,research on epic works and comparative works is of great value.On the other hand,the results of this thesis can be applied to the teaching practice in courses like Russian Language and Literature and Russian literature.The results are also of great help for Chinese students to understand Sholokhov's works.By analyzing and comparing different cultures and the similarities and differences of different writers of the two works,this thesis will conclude and analyze the epic characters and literary features of the two works.This thesis is consisted of Introduction;main body(three chapters);Conclusion and References.In Introduction,this thesis makes a brief introduction to And Quiet Flows the Don and White Deer Plain and draws a conclusion on the research and the deficiencies of the research of the two works in academia from home and abroad.The value of this thesis;innovative meanings of this thesis;perspectives of the research;research ways and aims are pointed out in Introduction.The first Chapter describes the theoretical basis of this thesis in details.On the one hand,it makes an introduction to the development of novel and points out the interactive relationship between epic features and novel.On the other hand,it reveals the important role that national psychology plays in narration and characterization.The genre of "epic novel" determines the choice of historical events and the ways ofnarration,which not only prepares for plots but also marks the main characters with the feature of times.National psychology,as the combination of national psychological features and code of behavior,makes reasonable explanation to the figures and the arrangements of plots.The two theories lay solid theoretical foundation to the context comparison and analysis in the next two chapters.The second Chapter discusses the similarities and differences of the two epic works in terms of narration.As the two works are based on historical events,this thesis makes comparison and analysis to the similarities and differences in terms of arrangements of plots and themes from the perspectives of epic features,writing tactics and historical materials.This thesis also attaches importance to the description of environment.In the third Chapter,this thesis makes comparison of the main figures in the two works.By analyzing the images and roles of the two main male figures Grigoriy Melekhov and Bai Jiaxuan in the two works,historical and social reasons of their tragedies are explained.The comparison between Aksinya and Tian Xiaoe is used to reveal the differences of female images in different cultural backgrounds and in different times.The description of Bai Ling is used to introduce the image of a progressive female and reveals the difference of the two works.In Conclusion,this thesis makes conclusion to the arguments of this thesis and draws a conclusion to the whole thesis;it also looks into the future of the research on this topic.