The Narrative Turn in Li Zishu's Novel: Classical Novel Techniques And Visualized Narrative

黎紫书小说叙事转向： 古典小说技法与影像叙事

Abstract

Abstract

Li Zishu is an internationally acclaimed post-1970s Malaysian Chinese writer who worked as a reporter for Sin Chew Daily for more than ten years. The primary reason for selecting Li Zishu's novel as the object of study in this paper is that considering that Li
Zishu is a journalist by birth and is skilled in modern media of cultural production such as newspapers and photography, it is worth considering whether the language of modern media has an impact on his novel writing. Adding to the fact that LIUSUDI is a novel
published in 2020, it can be considered a contemporary novel in the age of film and television, and it even managed to sell its movie and television rights in 2023. Novels in the era of film and television are governed by the law of visual communication, and with
the help of montage, the fragments of life are simplified, condensed and concentrated, and the flow of consciousness is the main driving force to complete the grouping of fragments, and the structure of the work is the construction of the work's space of consciousness. Montage is characterized by spatialized time. The narrative turn of Li Zishu's long novel LIUSUDI is not only influenced by the thinking of movie and television, but also innovative in inheriting the techniques from classical novels. This paper analyzes montage, an essential feature in narrative art, compares the role and change of montage in traditional novels and modern film and television, disassociates the structure formed in LIUSUDI to attract readers' attention, and explores the strategy gained or lost to help the novel's survival in the era of new media.

Keywords: Li Zishu, classical fiction techniques, visualizing narrative, montage thinking