TRADITION AND MODERNITY IN ZHANG AILING’S SHORTSTORIES
TRADITION AND MODERNITY IN ZHANG AILING’S SHORTSTORIES

Summary/Abstract: Tradition and Modernity in Zhang Ailing’s shortstories. Zhang Ailing has been considered as a pioneer in Chinese literary modernism, due to her anti romantic vision of society and her continuous search for new forms and means of expression. Her unique style resides precisely in the continuation and modernization of the old Chinese literary schools like Mandarin Ducks and Butterflies or New Sensationists and partial affiliation to the new ones like May 4’th literary movement. This article aims at pointing out, the way in which the writer manages to embrace both the traditional Chinese literary style and morals of society, with the modernist techniques and lifestyle. We consider that this perpetual transition from the old towards the new is to be found not only in the narrative techniques, but also in the choice of plot, the construction of characters, time and space or language.

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