Discovering Fiction
Published on 30. June 2022
Book
Paperback/Softback
160 pages
978-1-4780-1830-8 (ISBN)
Description
Over the past twenty years, Chinese novelist Yan Lianke has emerged as one of the most important writers in the world. In Discovering Fiction, Yan offers insights into his views on literature and realism, the major works that inspired him, and his theories of writing. He juxtaposes discussions of the high realism of Leo Tolstoy and Lu Xun against Franz Kafka's modernism and Gabriel GarcIa MArquez's magical realism, charting the relationship between causality, truth, and modes of realism. He also discusses his approach to realism, which he terms "mythorealism"-a way of capturing the world's underlying truth by relying on the allegories, myths, legends, and dreamscapes that emerge from daily life. Revealing and instructive, Discovering Fiction gives readers an unprecedented look into the mind and art of a literary giant.
Reviews / Votes
"Yan's commentaries on the realist canon emerging over the last several hundred years are consistently insightful and often strikingly illuminating, as in his assessments of how the strongest writers, from Defoe to Turgenev and beyond, have continually shifted readers' understanding of what counts as reality. . . . A sometimes dense but always discerning consideration of how truth emerges across an impressive array of global literature." (Kirkus Reviews) "A thought-provoking look at the state of literature, and how it came to pass." (Publishers Weekly)More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
North Carolina
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 9 mm
Weight
240 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-4780-1830-8 (9781478018308)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Persons
Yan Lianke is the author of Hard Like Water, The Day the Sun Died, The Explosion Chronicles, The Four Books, and many other novels and story collections. Winner of the Franz Kafka Prize and a two-time finalist for the Man Booker International Prize, Yan teaches at Renmin University in Beijing and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.
Carlos Rojas is Professor of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies at Duke University. He has translated several of Yan's novels, including Hard Like Water, The Day the Sun Died, and The Explosion Chronicles.
Carlos Rojas is Professor of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies at Duke University. He has translated several of Yan's novels, including Hard Like Water, The Day the Sun Died, and The Explosion Chronicles.
Content
Translator's Introduction. Creating Reality and Surpassing Realism / Carlos Rojas ix
1. Realism's Four Levels of Truth 1
2. Zero Causality 35
3. Full Causality 51
4. Partial Causality 59
5. Inner Causality 83
6. Mythorealism 99
Appendix: Chinese Authors and Works 125
Notes 129
Bibliography 133
Index 137
1. Realism's Four Levels of Truth 1
2. Zero Causality 35
3. Full Causality 51
4. Partial Causality 59
5. Inner Causality 83
6. Mythorealism 99
Appendix: Chinese Authors and Works 125
Notes 129
Bibliography 133
Index 137