Chinese Journal of Literary Criticism

No.1, 2021

The Self-consciousness of Writing and the Chaos of Expression—On Chen Yan’s Novel Writing

(Abstract)

He Shaojun

Chen Yan’s success in giving full play to the strengths of realism lies in his clear theoretical self-consciousness in writing and his pursuit of artistic chaos in expression. In the current context of mutual impact and dialogue between realism and modernism, Chen Yan still adheres to classical realism and has succeeded, which shows that classical realism still has vitality. For us, Chen Yan’s success reveals that realist writers must work hard on their narrative and character-building abilities.