Ellen Widmer's Research On Relationship Between Women And Fiction In Ming And Qing Dynasties

As a distinguished sinologist in North America,Ellen B.Widmer focuses on exploring the history of Chinese classical fiction and women writing history,especially the relationship between women and fiction during the Ming and Qing dynasties,and her research results have a great influence on the academic circles in China and overseas.Ellen B.Widmer points out the rise and prosperity of “ commercial publishing”is the external cause of the appearance of female writers,while self-realization needs and the improvement of aesthetic pursuit of women are the subjective factors.Biography writing and auto-referentiality of fiction also promote women's participation in fiction writing to a certain extent.In addition,the level of women's participation in fiction is enhanced by the “ trick-down effect” formed by men's support for women's education and fiction publishing,men's appropriation of women's experience and image(Ventriloquism),female literati's refernce to male literati's writing style(Cross-dressed Women),and the “literary network” constructed by “the imaginary community”.Ellen B.Widmer emphasizes the female image portrayed in the fiction of the Ming and Qing dynasties include both “ the accomplised-women” written by male writers,which is the refraction of male discourse,and “the cross-dressed military heroines” written by women themselves,who are the representation that women hope to realize self-worth.Those female images are not only the objects of traditional male's moral and ethical review,but also the “alter ego” in the eye of female readers,which can be regarded as the manifestation of female appeal.Ellen B.Widmer also pays close attation to the acceptance of female fiction during the Ming and Qing dynasties.She believes the identity of women as implied reader,the improvement of gui xiu's reading ability and the stimulation of fiction text(such as Dream of the Red Chamber)make women's reading possible.At the same time,women have a tight relationship with fiction criticism.They turn into the subject of fiction criticism,called critics,and furthermore female perspective gradually becomes an important standard of appreciation.Moreover,the rise of “commercial publishing” pays more attention to the role of female readers,and the prosperity of print media makes women's reading universal and deeper.Ellen B.Widmer's research on relationship between Chinese women and fiction in Ming and Qing dynasties has its distinctive features in methods.She attaches great importance to returning to the historical context,which is mainly reflected in the combination of diachronic survey and synchronic analysis,the extensive use of “the fictionalized history” and the rationale use of “historical imagination method”;As an“other”,she also adopts a comparative research approach.She keeps a watchful eye on the comparison of different type of fiction,as well as the appropriate comparison between Chinese and Western civilization;“intertextual analysis” is quite common in her research.She discusses the intertextual relationship between fiction and poetry,and explores the intertextuality of character and image within the same or different fiction.All in all,Ellen B.Widmer's research on relationship between Chinese women and fiction in Ming and Qing dynasties has its significant theoretical value and innovation,but it may has limitation in text selection and deviation of understanding occasionally.