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6 Writing the Peripheral into Dictionary Books ten d t o falsif y ou r relatio n t o th e worl d no t throug h wha t the y sa y but throug h thei r implicit assertion tha t the world i s like a book; at the sam e time onl y books — I am talkin g about fiction here , whether writte n i n vers e or pros e — ca n bot h unmas k thi s an d giv e u s bac k th e sens e o f ou r ow n multifold possibilitie s an d o f th e multifol d natur e o f th e world . Gabriel Josipovici (1994 : xi) What excite s m e mos t i s not t o duplicat e a world, bu t t o construc t one . Han Shaogon g (1996b : 121 ) Han Shaogon g (fti^?& , 1953-) , know n a s a pionee r o f "roots-seekin g literature" (^Iflt^l^), 1 publishe d his much-disputed work entitled A Dictionary of Maqiao (JiMfnlJIr ) i n 1996. 2 Th e boo k i s written i n a dictionary form . I t comprises 150 entries, each of which records a Maqiao expression, or a person, or a place. What inspire d hi m t o compil e suc h a special dictionar y was th e uniqueness o f th e loca l expression s o f Milu o (tBJll) , a n are a evokin g reminiscences of the ancient Kingdom of Chu $ t ) . QuYua n (J3JI^ , 340-278? BC), an exile d Ch u officia l an d renowne d poet , wa s said t o hav e drowne d himself in the Miluo River, by the side of which Maqiao is located. The nove l captures th e essenc e o f both th e linguisti c an d conceptua l idiosyncrasie s i n which th e cultural/historica l spiri t of Maqiao i s inscribed. Doubtles s t o say, the author' s six years of rustication a s an "educate d youth " in a West Huna n village help s hi m gai n a n "emic," 3 o r insider's , view of th e peopl e an d th e vernacular o f Maqiao an d enable s hi m t o creat e a n ethnography-lik e boo k depicting its life way and its vicissitudes in the context of contemporary Chines e history. Han's Dictionary seems to be a continuation o f his earlier explorations o f the cultura l an d historica l roots. More specifically, wha t he trace s now is the root o f a vernacular intende d t o b e a linguistic Other , a s opposed t o th e 152฀Brushing ฀History ฀Against ฀the ฀Grain฀ hegemonic putonghua (l^fitS, "the standard language"). Since language serves as "the connectio n betwee n ma n an d th e world" (1996a : 237), as he himsel f has put it, by tracing the social contexts in which Maqiao expressions are used, he expand s hi s exploratio n o f a linguistic phenomeno n int o a cultural an d political one . Maqia o i s intende d a s a miniatur e o f a large r world. 4 B y excavating th e laten t semanti c implication s o f som e peculia r word s an d expressions, the novel not only narrates th e linguistic confrontation betwee n a vernacula r (a s wel l a s a margina l culture ) an d th e standar d languag e (putonghua) bu t als o explore s th e politica l an d cultura l effect s o f thi s confrontation. What i s o f interes t t o u s her e i s no t s o muc h Ha n Shaogong' s experimentation o n th e ne w narrativ e for m itsel f tha n hi s les s noticeabl e grappling wit h th e sociocultura l meaning s hidde n behin d th e form . Hi s portrayal o f th e confrontatio n betwee n th e vernacula r an d th e officia l language, th e peripherie s an d th e center , an d traditionalit y an d modernit y suggests a preference fo r linguisti c an...

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