Abstract
This paper investigates the role of classic poetry in Chinese traditional vernacular fiction and explores their generic and intertextual relationship in Stories Old and New collected and edited by Feng Monglong in the seventeenth century (Ming Dynasty). Narratively, poetry functions as a sub-genre or substructure within the narrative of fiction, fulfilling what the fiction narrative is incapable of representing and expanding its discursive and emotional possibilities. Moreover, poetry, a canonical genre in the Chinese literary tradition, serves as a literary authority for both the vernacular genre and the marginal author, and maintains literary continuity. The function of poetry, however, is paradoxical and problematic. It is both a dispensable sub-genre and a literary authority; its lyrical elements and sensuous suggestiveness tend to deconstruct the morality promoted by the fiction. This study focuses on how their incompatible discursive structures prevent them from reaching a great synthesis, and how their combination reflects the rise of the popular culture and vernacular fiction, and the sociocultural changes of the time.
Presenters
Jie LuProfessor of Chinese Studies and Film Studies, Modern Language and Literature, University of the Pacific, California, United States
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
Chinese Classic Poetry, Traditional Vernacular Fiction, Intertextuality, Narrative
