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LI Feng, JIN Wen. The Unbearable Heaviness of Knowledge: A Study of Novels of Erudition as Encyclopedic Narratives[J]. International Comparative Literature, 2022, 5(4): 96-112. doi: 10.19857/j.cnki.ICL.20225406
Citation: LI Feng, JIN Wen. The Unbearable Heaviness of Knowledge: A Study of Novels of Erudition as Encyclopedic Narratives[J]. International Comparative Literature, 2022, 5(4): 96-112. doi: 10.19857/j.cnki.ICL.20225406

The Unbearable Heaviness of Knowledge: A Study of Novels of Erudition as Encyclopedic Narratives

doi: 10.19857/j.cnki.ICL.20225406
  • Received Date: 2022-08-08
  • Accepted Date: 2022-12-10
  • Novels of erudition refer to fictional works in China's mid-Qing era which contain a large amount of technical knowledge beyond what may be warranted by the narrative thread and an obvious intention to display the author's scholarly talents. They carry some essential features of encyclopedic narratives in Western literature, especially their epic length and the incorporation of a large amount of knowledge. This essay analyzes the main characteristics of novels of erudition, including their shared grand topics, multi-disciplinary scope, intricate language, mythical structures, and intentional allusions to social reality. It also discusses the novel of erudition's cultural origins and its trajectory through Chinese literary history. The purpose is to shed new light on the genre of erudition novels and to pave the way for exploring the roles of knowledge and argumentation in fictional narratives across Western and Eastern cultures. The paper argues that though it virtually disappeared after the late Qing era, this genre is valuable as a literary experiment to record China'sZeitgeistin the eighteenth century, test the limits of the novel's capacity for knowledge and improve the academic and cultural status of the novel as a genre long despised in imperial China

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