Subversive Comedy: A Study of the Transformation of Chinese Fiction in the 1980s-1990s A Study of the Transformation of Chinese Fiction in the 1980s-1990s

Author: Jin Wenbing
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-01-01
Features: In an interesting and ever-evolving era, where the so-called serious discourse space is constantly being occupied by vulgarity and boredom, the scene we see is presented in a comedic way, offering us the joy of continued exploration and the truth of history. In the history of 20th-century Chinese literature, which has always taken solemn tragedy as its aesthetic value orientation, what does the emergence of comicalized and carnival-like literature signify? This has become an unavoidable theoretical issue. This book explores the fundamental transformation in value concepts and aesthetic demands of novels from the 1980s to the 1990s. It is composed of eight parts: the historical and the real, the disintegration of historical narratives by daily life, the logic of female discourse, the issue of the body's belonging, the comedic father-son ethical relationships of the son era, the last possibilities left by humans in subduing fate, the modern significance of the loss of homeland, and the comedic spiritual character of 1990s novels. Based on a theoretical integration study of the transformation of novels, the author incorporates some issues into the broader context of 20th-century Chinese literature for exploration, offering many innovative insights.