The Rationale of Realism in Yu Hua's To Live (1993)

This article investigates the specific realism deployed in To Live (1993), Yu Hua's description of the struggles of the spoiled son of a wealthy landowner transformed into a kindhearted peasant after the revolution. The analysis shows how narrative technique and Yu Hua's active interventions in his narrative affect the novel. Originally banned in China, it was later called one of the nation's most influential books. Three main themes within the novel are highlighted, that of violence and death, the role of spiritual cynicism, and the general humanism pervading the narrative. Five types of narrative operations are at play in To Live: the use of a dual voice, the invention of unique plot patterns, the mechanism of anachrony, the recourse to metalanguage, and the technique of double-voiced discourse. The ultimate purpose of this expanded realism is to make readers understand the world thanks to embodied experiences of language and not just by following a sequence of events.