The Form-Function Separation and Integration: The Establishment of the Fiction Category in the Late Qing Period

Abstract

The establishment of the fiction category in the late Qing period represents a crucial transition from the traditional concept of “fiction” to the modern one. It encompasses three dimensions: social status, literary status, and knowledge system position. The process consists of three stages: the separation of literary forms, the incorporation of new ones, and the further separation. It is influenced by various forces, such as social change, literary reform, the reconfiguration of academic systems, and the exchange of Chinese and Western culture. It is based on a literary perspective and situations, incorporating “dramatic fiction” such as Chinese drama scripts and even the early translations of Western dramas into this category. Later, “dramatic fiction” was removed from the fiction category, leading to the establishment of a modern framework of the fiction form. This development is a result of the synergy between the vigorous advocacy for the social and literary status of traditional drama in China and the inspiration from Western distinction between fiction and drama.

Keywords

fiction category / fiction form / dramatic fiction / establishment of the fiction division

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2024 Higher Education Press