The Uneasy Narrator

In the generic hierarchy of Chinese culture, fiction used to occupy a low position. But in 20th-century China fiction has become a highly important cultural discourse. This change of cultural status coincided with the emergence of modern Chinese fiction, for which the Western influence used to be held responsible. The book, however, tries to find the intrinsic cause for this spectacular development while offering a historical analysis of the narrative form of Chinese fiction, and argues that it is the re-orientation of Chinese culture that serves as the motive force for this development. Never before has Chinese fiction, traditional or modern, been discussed with the formalistic-culturological approach, which leads, in this book, to revealing observations about Chinese culture. This book is intended for scholars and students of Chinese literature and culture.