Chinese Fiction of the Cultural Revolution

Preface

Preface In the history of literature it often seems that in periods of great vitality there was a sharp rejection of the immediate past. Official literature in the People's Republic of China may be divided into pre~Cultural Revolution (CR) literature (1949-65), CR literature (1966-76) and post~CR literature (1977-). It is generally taken for granted that post~CR literature, especially in the first ten years, is the most prosperous stage in contemporary Chinese literary history, and for this reason also there is an abundance of studies of post~CR literature. In contrast, CR literature is undoubtedly the most bleak, and scholarly examinations of this literature are limited. Nevertheless, CR literature has its own position in the history of contemporary China. It tested the new CR literary theories and principles; it carried out the radical elements of pre~CR literary theories and principles; more importantly, it indirectly determined the deviation of post~CR literature from its predecessors. This book is a comprehensive study of CR fiction, with a particular focus on two aspects: characterization and language. Since CR literature fundamentally aimed to serve ideology, my examination of the characters in CR fiction lays stress on the social and ideological significance of the characteristics shown in their personal background, physical qualities, temperamental and behavioural qualities, and so on. Because CR literary creation was designed to cut off relationships with traditional and foreign literature and art, and became an unprecedentedly closed system in contemporary Chinese literature; this analysis is mainly confined to CR and pre~CR fiction, although the framework of reference sometimes covers other fiction, such as traditional Chinese and Western novels, and Soviet novels. xiv • Preface My linguistic analysis of CR fiction focuses on vocabulary. Based on a number of sample works, twelve stylistic categories have been established through statistical analysis: vulgar expressions, ideological words and expressions, idioms, proverbs, xiehouyu, classical verses, 'bookish', 'colloquial' and dialectal words, military items in metaphorical use, meteorological items in metaphorical use, and inflated items. The investigation presents the density and distributions of the stylistic items concerning narrators and different types of characters, the general fictional language style, the relation between the general style and the authors' individual language style, and the similarities and differences between pre~CR novel language style and CR novel language style. Help from many people was indispensable for the completion and publication of this book. First and foremost I wish to thank my supervisor, Professor Bonnie S. McDougall, for her guidance, criticism and encouragement during my three years of Ph.D. studies and my current post~doctoral research work. I am also in particular grateful to the staff of Hong Kong University Press, and to the anonymous referee of my manuscript for their confidence, suggestions and efficiency in arranging the publication of this book. Dr T. M. McClellan, Dr Po~Ching Yip and Dr Karin McPherson read and commented on the manuscript. Professor He Ande, Professor Li Anping and Professor Duan Zhongqiao helped me in collecting materials. Hu Xiaoming, Li Yelin, She Shenglin, Hu Xiaoyan, Hu Cen and Yang Qiming were helpful in the statistical evaluation of the linguistic analysis. Carol Rennie, Liliana Riga and Jane Elisabeth Rubino proofread the manuscript. Dr Bill Dolby gave me help in compiling the glossary. I wish to thank each of them. I also owe gratitude to my wife, Yu Jieling, for her untiring support of my work. Finally, my visit to Britain was initially supported by the Sino~ British Friendship Scholarship Scheme. My Ph.D. studies were assisted by an Overseas Research Students Award from the Universities of the United Kingdom, and a Vans Dunlop Scholarship from the University of Edinburgh, which are also warmly appreciated. L.Y. Department of East Asian Studies at the University of Edinburgh October 1997 ...