A genre study of martial arts novels in Republican China (1930s- 1940s) = 類型學視野下的民國武俠小說 (1930-1940s)

Abstract

Martial arts novels had gradually developed a stable narrative grammar in Republican China, then formed a specific genre of popular literature. Although there have been many studies in this area, little of them focused on the paradigm research. In my opinion, there was some writing routine here in martial arts novels, which changes with the times. The appearance of "Five Masters of The North" , could be regarded as a sign of genre maturity, while most of their works were produced in the occupied areas by Japan in North China. To understand the martial arts genre, understanding the writing routine of martial arts novels during 1930s- 1940s is an entry path. In this thesis, I argued that the most important element of martial arts novels that time is Wu, which means physical strength and often presented by violent conflict. And there were other elements like Xia and Jianghu functioning the narrative. How did those elements organized and functioned? Why did them picked? With all these questions, this thesis attempts to analyze the narrative grammar of martial arts novels at that time, to explore the generation of this popular genre , and to investigate the specific historical context in which the genre was produced.

Chapter 1 is a introduction of the thesis, including research background, significance of the topic, research scope, and research method. Chapter 2 probes into the production and consumption environment of martial arts novels, especially under the special situation of occupied areas of Japan in North China. The chapter is divided into 3 sections: the political environment and cultural policies of occupied areas of Japan in North China, the urban environment and cultural character of Tianjin, and the production mechanism of popular novels. Chapter 3 analyzes the narrative grammar of martial arts novels written by "Five Masters of The North". This chapter is divided into 3 sections: "Scene", in which the physical strength was showed, is the key element of martial arts novels; "Motivation", which is to promote the plot and to give explanation of attack scenes, is an effective plot driving device in martial narrative; and "Stage", as the narrative space, plays an important role in three aspects: entertainment, emotional projection and cultural imagination. Chapter 4 focuses on the authors of martial arts novels, figuring out their contribution in the process of genre generation. According to their writing style and contribution, this chapter selects Huanzhu Louzhu, Bai Yu and Wang Dulu as samples, to analyze how the authors shape the appearance of martial arts texts. Chapter 5 makes a summary review of the research.