A critical study of historical depiction in Yan Lianke's fiction = 論閻連科小說的歷史書寫

Abstract

Yan Lianke, a contemporary Chinese author who has shown his excellence and great influence in the literary world according to his cultural memories and unique experiences about the countryside life in China. Yan’s recently published fiction have been awarded and translated into multiple languages. For more than 30 years, Yan has always been dedicated and diligent about his literary work, together with his determination to strive for innovation, Yan’s work is undoubtedly of high research value.

Although there has been lots of research done on Yan’s work, still, comprehensive analyses are insufficient. In relation to this, historical depiction would be the topic of this dissertation with an aim to adopt a new perspective to carry out an analysis of Yan’s work. Through the historical depiction of Yan’s fiction, his ideological perceptions towards the history and observations of the contemporary society can thus be demonstrated. In addition, historical depiction is always associated with identity construction; like many other authors, Yan has a strong passion for examining his identity and responsibilities of being a writer and an intellectual. This dissertation will not only be investigating into Yan’s historical depiction; and on top of the examination, how Yan has constructed himself to be a writer and an intellectual through historical depiction will also be discussed.

In this dissertation, there are six chapters. In chapter one, there will be a thorough review of Yan’s literary writings followed by a literature review of Yan’s studies. Furthermore, there will be an introduction of the concept of historical depiction and its relation to fictional writing, as well as a brief description of the methodology used. In chapter two to four, the focus would be in-depth illustrations of Yan’s imagination of and perceptions towards history and his understanding of contemporary China through the study of the narrative theme and techniques shown in his representative works. Chapter five of the dissertation, with special reference to the investigation of the characters and historical depiction in top five Yan’s novels, the self-awareness and formation of Yan’s identity of being a writer and as an intellectual will be illustrated and discussed. And at the same time, Yan’s sense of mission and of intellectual responsibilities in contemporary society will also scrutinized. Lastly in the concluding chapter, the contributions and limitations of Yan’s historical depiction will be explicitly examined.