Narration (China)
In Chinese literature, narratives represent a separate genre of the genre Xiaoshuo . They developed in China since the 3rd century and were first written in Wenyan . In terms of content and design, these narratives showed strong influences from Buddhism , Daoism and historiography.
During the Tang and Song times , poets, some of whom were well-known, wrote "stories about peculiarities", so-called Chuanqi. These narratives were already distinguished by complex plots and a high literary style. The themes were drawn from historical works, anecdotes and contemporary events, as well as narratives about the supernatural.
During the late Song period, these stories were taken over into the contemporary Singspiel because of the exciting or touching subject matter and the dramatic plot . Colloquial narratives that have been important since the Song era were also adapted as Singspiele. There was a mutual influence between the colloquial narratives and those written in Wenyan. Colloquial, often lyrical, narratives contain influences from Chuanqi and Bianwen , especially in terms of structure and content. These narratives are characterized by the presence of the narrator, a dramatic structure, dialogues, tension and surprising elements. The narratives were divided into ghost stories, love stories, crime stories, and religious stories, as well as forms that mixed these topics.
One work that influenced both written and slang narration ( Huaben ) was the Taiping Guangji . Since the Song era, it has served traditional oral narratives as the basis for stories that often still showed the influence of the written language.
During the Ming period , the first novels were then written based on longer historical narratives .
With the beginning of modern literature in China in the early 1920s, short and medium-length narratives became particularly important, as the authors were able to use narratives to express literary and political views quickly and in a concentrated manner. These modern narratives showed a strong influence of foreign literature and were written in Baihua , the colloquial language of the time. All the great writers of modern literature have written such stories; B. Lu Xun , Mao Dun , Ye Shengtao , Ding Ling and Shen Congwen .
After the Cultural Revolution , narratives were written that were even more closely related to world literature. However, the Chinese tradition, which the authors combined with stylistic devices and narrative techniques of modernity and postmodernism , was also increasingly taken up . Well-known authors are here z. B. Zhang Jie , Wang Meng , Mo Yan, and Wang Anyi . In modern literature, stories of various lengths emerged: long, medium-length and very short stories ("mini-stories"). Science fiction and news stories that combine essay and non-fictional literature were new to modern literature .
Modern narration has also developed in Taiwan since the 1960s. Well-known Taiwanese storytellers include Bai Xianyong , Zhang Xiguo , Li Ang , Zhang Dachun and Qiu Ying .
See also
- Chinese novel
- Chinese drama
- Chinese essay
- Chinese reportage literature
- Chinese women's literature
- Chinese natural poetry
literature
- Volker Klöpsch, Eva Müller (Ed.): Lexicon of Chinese Literature, CH Beck, Munich 2004.
- Patrick Hanan: The Early Chinese Short Story. A Critical Theory in Outline. In: Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, Volume 27, 1967, pp. 168-207.
