Social Sciences in China (Chinese Edition)

No.4, 2020

 

The Theoretical Construction of the “Modern Novel” in China and Its Significance in Literary History

(Abstract)

 

Zhou Haibo

 

The period between Liang Qichao’s advocacy of the “revolution in the realm of fiction” to the New Literature Movement of the May 4th Movement was of historical importance for Chinese novels’ move into the modern era. Theoretical and practical exploration by modern writers and critics in China led to a process of development of the concept of the “modern novel” from a hazy awareness to rational consciousness, and thence to clear creative production. The “modern novel” involved not only the continuous division and reconstruction of Chinese literary style, but also a return to and innovation in the traditional Chinese style of fiction. From “Lin Shu’s translations” to Lu Xun’s fiction, and from Liang Qichao to Hu Shi, the various interpretations of the modern novel made by modern Chinese writers and critics, as well as their various stylistic explorations, constituted the complex form of the modern novel. At the same time, the concept and creation of these novels also show the characteristics of “mixed genres.” They break through the theoretical limitations of Western and ancient Chinese fiction and return to the novel’s original essence, ultimately constructing the stylistic theory of the modern Chinese novel.