Introduction to Masterpieces of Modern and Contemporary Chinese Fiction (Volume 1 and 2)

Author: Yu Kexun
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-12-01
Features: This series of textbooks is divided into 10 volumes, specifically compiled to meet the needs of this new teaching reform. It aims to provide college students majoring in Chinese (including adult learners) with a comprehensive, well-structured, carefully selected, and scientifically combined collection of classic works in linguistics and literature, along with necessary guidance for reading and understanding these works. Unlike general appreciative or introductory anthologies, our main objective is to offer students authentic, carefully selected classics. Thus, the focus is primarily on "selection." We strive to select the best works that truly reflect the scope and essence of the discipline. As for "guidance," it mainly provides background knowledge and relevant materials to aid reading, offers some guiding insights, and aims to inspire more than impose rigid interpretations. The writing principles of this book are: highlighting the original works, providing concise guidance, showcasing distinctive features, and ensuring suitability for teaching. In the selection of works, the book follows the following basic principles:
First, between the literary significance of a work in literary history and its literary quality, greater emphasis is placed on the literary quality. The so-called literary significance of a work refers to the influence it gains due to its special position in literary history. Second, when selecting works, attention is paid to the diversity of the novelistic forms. The works selected for this book are primarily realist and romantic novels, with some "avant-garde" novels included as well, which have been influenced by Western modernism or characterized by radical artistic experiments. Third, the selected works are mainly short and middle-length fiction. Considering the limited scope of this book, some longer middle-length and full-length novels are included as "noted," but an excessive number of noted works would reduce the space for the original texts of the novels. Therefore, the selection of works had to be compressed to accommodate the limited length of the book.