20th Century Foreign Classic Novellas

Author: He Naiying, Editor-in-Chief, Beijing Normal University Chinese Department, Compiler
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-01-01
Features: This volume is a selected collection of foreign middle-length novels. Since it features middle-length novels, we must first address the rather tricky question of what constitutes a middle-length novel. On this issue, the academic community has long held divergent views, with no consensus reached. Not only do Chinese scholars disagree, but foreign scholars also do not see eye to eye. Here, we cannot delve into a detailed discussion, but can only refer to various Chinese and foreign perspectives to summarize the following key points as the basis for the selections in this book. What is a middle-length novel? By definition, a middle-length novel is a literary genre that falls between short stories and novels. It is neither as short as a short story nor as long as a novel. However, it is not simply an elongated short story or a condensed novel; rather, it is an independent literary genre. In reflecting the breadth of life, the length of life, the arrangement of the plot, the portrayal of characters, the writing methods, and the control of word count, it has its own distinctive characteristics. In terms of reflecting the breadth of life, a middle-length novel is neither as narrow as a short story nor as broad as a novel, but falls somewhere in between. Generally, it allows for a relatively broader depiction of the protagonist's life.