Theory of Fiction: A Non-Western Narrative Tradition

Fiction study is now an international subject of inquiry. When scholars talk about fiction theory, however, they usually refer to European or Western fiction theory. Even in studies of other time-honored literary traditions, discussions of fiction theory are always conducted in terms of Western concepts like mimesis, realism, naturalism, postmodernism, and so on. This gives rise to two opposite views in the field of Chinese and comparative literature. One emphasizes the unique nature of traditional Chinese fiction and considers fiction theory arising therefrom as something that must be set apart from the Western system. The other, using Western fiction theory as the yardstick, implicitly views characteristic features of Chinese fiction as anomalies or even limitations. Ostensibly, the two tendencies differ, but in essence they share a commonality, that is, both imply that Chinese fiction theory cannot have meaningful dialogues with its Western counterpart. Regretfully, studies of Chinese fiction are, with only a few exceptions,¹ largely confined to historical scholarship or practical criticism and, cherish precious little interest in conceptual inquiries into the conditions of fiction. Studies with theoretical orientations came under another aspect of the Western influence,² and have been subsumed under the catch-all category of "narrative" (xushi) defined in the broadest sense, which covers all discursive materials but does not focus exclusively on "fiction" as a literary and aesthetic category. As a result, there has been so far no systematic view of Chinese fiction theory that treats Chinese fiction on its own terms while taking into account Western fiction theory. The lack of an indigenous system not only hinders the study of Chinese fiction but also obfuscate our understanding of fiction as a literary genre across cultures. In this article, I intend to construct a Chinese system of fiction theory and to bring it into a meaningful dialogue with its Western counterpart. To bring out the salient features of Chinese fiction, this article will focus on classical Chinese fiction as an independent narrative system before the advent of modern Chinese fiction, which came into being as a result of Western literary influence. Before my inquiry unfolds, I wish to make two points clear. First, when I compare the Chinese and Western traditions, my comparison is confined to the historical period before the dominance of realism was called into question. Second, although my focus is necessarily novel-centered, my subject of inquiry is prose fiction that covers the story, the novella, and the novel.

Fiction Theory at a Comparative Perspective

Prose fiction as a discourse in contradistinction to history and other narrative discourses arose very early in both Chinese and Western traditions, but fiction as a literary genre in the modern sense of the short story, novella, and novel arose rather late in both traditions. Consequently, theory of fiction in each tradition arose rather late in contrast to the earlier maturity of poetic and dramatic theories. In the European tradition, even after the firm establishment of the novel as a dominant genre in literary writings in the eighteenth century, writings on theory of fiction were sporadic, and critical discourse on literary theory continued to focus on poetry and drama well into the nineteenth century (Hoffman and Murphy 5). In the Chinese tradition, a similar situation existed. Prose fiction, though popular among the reading public, continued to be viewed as a low form of literature, on a par with drama, but not on an equal footing with poetry. Major literary theorists and critics continued to concentrate on poetry and prose and refused to engage in serious discussions of fiction. Only scholars on the margins of the literary establishment conducted studies of fiction. Because their major interest focused on critical comments of fictional works, they turned out a large quantity of commentarial work under the rubric of xiaoshuo pingdian (fiction commentaries). This kind of critical discourse mainly concerned itself with practical techniques of fiction writing and only in a secondary manner did it engage in conceptual inquires into the nature, conception, function, ontology, and epistemology of fiction. With few exceptions, they were not interested in constructing systems of fiction theory. Although Chinese theorists...