1. The definition of prose
Modern prose refers to a literary genre alongside novels, poems, and dramas. It can be understood in both broad and narrow senses.
Prose in a broad sense refers to all literary prose articles other than poetry, novels, and dramas. In addition to prose that is mainly about discussion and lyricism, it also includes communication, reportage, essays, memoirs, biographies and other genres. With the development of the writing discipline, many genres have established themselves, and the scope of prose has become increasingly narrow.
Prose in the narrow sense refers to literary prose. It is a literary style that is mainly narrative or lyrical, with a wide range of materials, flexible writing methods, short length, and both emotional and rich text.
2. Classification of prose
Prose has three functions: narrative, argumentative, and lyrical. Correspondingly, prose can be divided into narrative prose, lyrical prose, and argumentative prose. kind.
⒈Narrative prose
Prose that mainly describes characters, events, and scenery is called narrative prose.
Narrative prose has a more complete narrative, vivid characters, and the author's emotions in describing the scenery. This type of prose is similar to short stories, but there are obvious differences. As far as narrative is concerned, the events described in prose do not require a complete plot, let alone twists and turns, while novels have much higher requirements for narrative than prose; in addition, prose needs to be full of emotion when narrating, while the emotion of novels is It is mainly reflected by the characters and does not require explicit expression by the author. As far as writing about people is concerned, novels require efforts to create typical characters, and typical characters are fictionalized by the author. The characters in prose are based on real people and real events, with some tailoring and processing, focusing on the freehand depiction of the characters.
According to the different emphases of this type of prose, it can be divided into narrative prose and personal prose.
Prose that focuses on narrative takes the development of events as clues and focuses on the narration of events. It can be a story with a beginning and an end, such as Xu Dishan's "Peanuts", or it can be a collection of several fragments, such as Lu Xun's "From Baicao Garden to Sanwei Bookstore". The author's sincere feelings are poured into the narrative, which is the most significant difference from the narrative of novels.
It focuses on prose that remembers people, and the whole article is character-centered. It often grasps the characters' personality characteristics and outlines them with thick lines, focusing on expressing the characters' basic temperament, personality and mental outlook, such as Lu Xun's "Mr. Fujino". Whether the characters are real or not is the difference between it and the novel.
In addition, there is also a type of this type of prose that focuses on describing scenery. This kind of prose describes the scenery of a place. Except for some customs and customs, it is mainly travel prose. Its content is very extensive, including mountain scenery, customs and folk sentiments, and places of interest and historical sites, all falling within the scope of travel notes. The most important characteristic of travel prose is that the scenery described in the work must be completely real, and exaggeration and fiction are not allowed; but it is not based on similar actual records, but the author integrates emotions with the objects to achieve a blend of scenes.
⒉Lyric prose
Prose that is mainly used to express the author's subjective emotions is called lyrical prose.
Emotional prose is the common feature of all prose, but compared with other prose, lyrical prose has stronger emotions, richer imagination, and more poetic language.
Lyric prose mainly uses symbols, metaphors, personification and other methods to convey the author's emotions through the depiction of external images. Therefore, expressing emotions through scenes and expressing aspirations through objects are the most commonly used techniques in this type of prose. The method of expressing one's feelings directly can appear in articles, but it is rare to use this method throughout the article.
Symbolic prose is a type of prose in which the author integrates his emotions into a specific thing with symbolic meaning and expresses his subjective emotions with the help of pictographic association or implication association. For example, most of Yang Shuo's prose, the contradictory "Praise to Baiyang", etc.
Emotional prose that borrows scenery embodies emotions in the scenery, giving life to the scenery, describing the scenery in the explicit and the emotions in the dark, so that the scenes blend and the scenes complement each other. Such as "Moonlight over the Lotus Pond" by Zhu Ziqing, "Sunrise" by Liu Baiyu, etc.
⒊Argumentative prose
Prose that mainly expresses arguments is called argumentative prose.
It pays the same attention to the expression of emotions as lyrical prose, but the difference is that argumentative prose puts more emphasis on reason, while lyrical prose puts more emphasis on emotion.
It is different from ordinary argumentative essays, which use facts and logic to reason, but mainly use literary images to speak. It is a literary and artistic argumentative essay.
It has both vivid images and strict logic; it must not only move people with emotion, but also convince people with reason; it integrates form, emotion, and reason into one, integrating political theory and literature and art. Mr. Lu Xun's essays and Tao Zhu's "The Style of Pine Trees" are all typical argumentative essays.
3. Characteristics of prose
⒈Strong documentary nature
Prose has a strong documentary nature. However, there are still great differences in the understanding of documentary nature. There are three representative opinions.
The first is to advocate absolute truth: "Describing real people and true events is the primary feature of prose. Essayists rely on travel and visits, investigation and research of rich materials, to describe the events and the true nature of the characters. , carefully examine the actual scene of the place before picking up the pen and paper. This is the main difference between prose close-ups and novels and dramas.
" (Zhou Libo's "Selected Prose Features and Preface", "Selected Prose Close-ups (1959-1962) People's Literature Publishing House, 1963)
The second is to advocate "big truth and small fiction": "Prose writing, in the selection of materials Shang also does not absolutely exclude any fiction. That is to say, on the premise of maintaining the general truth of the subject matter (please note that the concept here is not equivalent to the meaning of 'authenticity' in literary science, so it is called the 'documentary nature of the subject matter'), some details Fiction, and even the fictitiousness of a certain minor character, are not only routine and allowed in creative practice, but are sometimes even necessary. ...The key is to be ‘big and small’. "(Han Shaohua's "Prose Theory", Beijing Normal University Press "On Writing")
The third is that prose for practical use must be strictly realistic; prose for appreciation is allowed to have fictional elements: “When talking about prose creation, we can’t help but talk about fiction. Fiction is a method commonly used in literary and artistic creation. It plays an important role in summarizing social life, shaping typical images, and highlighting the theme of works. Prose writing does not blindly reject this method. The reason why prose genres with realistic characteristics do not exclude fiction is because people have written prose for practical use and for appreciation since ancient times. Prose for practical use can only be strictly realistic and does not allow any fiction; while prose for appreciation is not so strict in realism and allows the presence of fictional elements. " (Guan Xian's "Realistic Theory of Prose")
Among these three opinions, we believe that the second opinion is desirable. First of all, the theory of "big reality and small virtuality" reflects the practice of prose creation. Taking Bing Xin's "Little Orange Lantern" as an example, essayist Han Shaohua said: "Not long ago, when I visited Comrade Bing Xin, I got her advice and learned about the children's family in the article, and the relationship between the author and them. The contacts, including the girl’s father’s surname, are conclusive and are real people and events. “It’s just a little bit of fiction in a few minor places. "Bing Xin, in the article "A Random Talk about the Writing Process of "Little Orange Lamp"", made a supplementary explanation of the article's "some minor fictitious points", that is, the minor character "my friend" is fictitious. The theory of "big truth and small fiction" is also logical in theory. Prose is a literary work, and fiction is a commonly used technique in literary works. Therefore, prose cannot have nothing to do with fiction, but this kind of fiction cannot destroy the documentary principle of prose. , so it can only be "big truth and small fiction"
Although the details of the prose can be fictional, the emotions in the prose are absolutely real, which should also be an important aspect of the authenticity of the prose. .
⒉The scope of prose is very wide, and almost everything in the world cannot be written, so Yu Dafu said: "Prose is simple and easy to write, and it covers a wide range of topics. On earth and in heaven, there is nothing that cannot be discussed, including vegetation, trees, insects, and fish. "("Dafu's Selected Works") Lu Xun said that "the subject matter of prose should be freely chosen, including landscapes, still lifes, insects and fish, or flowers and leaves." ("To Luo Qingzhen", "Lu Xun's Letters" p241 ), People's Literature Publishing House, 1959 edition) Zhou Libo said: "Every major international and domestic event, a small story of a social family, a big wave, a small thing, a piece of one's own history, a trace of feeling, a pinch of joy and sorrow, a star of meditation. The sorrow of the past and the joy of the present can be transferred to the paper and presented to readers. " ("Selected Prose Features: Preface") Luo Wen said that prose "as a literary style has many benefits. A piece of stone can be turned into a piece of literature. A wave of water can be freehand. A petal of a flower can solve the problem. Really free. " ("My View on Prose")
Because of this, some people say that prose writers "can see and hear their voices and feel them everywhere. Lu Xun watched the white snow falling and expressed his emotions, forming the essence of "Snow"; Mao Dun saw the tall and straight white poplars and wrote "Praise to the Poplars"; Ba Jin watched the turbulence in the court and chanted in his heart because of "Sunrise on the Sea"; Wu Bo Xiao recalled the rhyme of the spinning wheel and wrote the famous poem "Remembering a Spinning Wheel"; Yang Shuo's appreciation of the gorgeous camellia inspired creative impulse and left the popular "Camellia Ode". In short, what an author sees, hears, knows, and feels may be used as material for writing prose. "(Hanji's "About Various Materials for Prose")).
The content of prose involves all things in nature, all kinds of people, ancient and modern times, China and foreign countries, political affairs and private affairs... It can be said to be all-encompassing and all-encompassing. Yes. You can write about conflicts and struggles at home and abroad and in society, about economic construction, about literary and artistic debates, about ethics and morality. You can also write about literary and artistic essays, reading notes, diaries and slips; it can also be about local people, travel notes and occasional notes. , it can also be a piece of knowledge, anecdotes from the literary world; it can be used to talk about the world, and it can also be used to express emotions and interest. Anything that can inspire people's thoughts, feel beautiful, and cultivate their sentiments, broaden their horizons, enrich their knowledge, and make them relaxed and happy. Choose the subject matter of prose.
In terms of subject matter, novels, dramas, and poems cannot be compared with prose. The subject matter of novels must have a complete storyline and vivid characters. , There must be exciting conflicts. The subject matter of poetry must have deep emotional charm. However, prose does not have these restrictions. You can write novels, dramas, and poems as materials, but you cannot write novels, dramas, and poems. The subject matter can also be written in prose.
The material is widely used. First of all, it can choose the subject matter regardless of ancient and modern times, Chinese and foreign, big or small, whatever can give people knowledge, beauty and edify people. All sentimental things can be written by hand and turned into beautiful pieces.
Secondly, when writing prose, you can choose materials from different times and spaces under the guidance of a theme, which is very free. Such as Qin Mu's "Land".
We acknowledge and emphasize the wide range of prose materials, but it does not mean that everything can be written as prose. The indiscriminate approach of digging into the basket and getting the food is not going to work. When writing prose, you must choose materials that reveal "human beings' sense of sublimity and solemnity" and materials that reflect "transmundane aesthetic ideals and aesthetic tastes."
3. Flexibility of form
Prose draws on a wide range of materials and is rich in content, and the forms that serve it are also flexible, diverse and eclectic.
①Various structures
First of all, the structural centers of prose are diverse. You can use characters as the structural center, such as "Mr. Fujino"; you can use typical details as the structural center, Zhu Ziqing's "Back View"; you can use scenery as the structural center, such as Yu Dafu's "Autumn in the Old Capital"; or you can use a certain symbolic thing. As the structural center, such as "Camellia Ode".
Secondly, the structure of prose is eclectic: some organize materials in the order of chronological development or spatial transfer, such as "Little Orange Lamp" and "From Baicao Garden to Sanwei Bookstore"; Some are prefaced by the author's ideological understanding and emotional changes, such as Zhang Jie's "Digging Shepherd's Purse" and Yang Shuo's "Lychee Honey"; some use a certain idea as the commander-in-chief and organize the materials into several different aspects, such as "land".
②Free and flexible expression.
Prose can freely use the five most basic expression methods such as narrative and description, and can also use techniques such as suggestion, symbolism, metaphor, and association. Narrative prose is mainly about narration, description and discussion; argumentative prose is mainly about discussion, with occasional use of narration, description and lyricism.
③ Use language freely.
The language of modern prose is mainly modern Chinese, but sometimes for expression needs, classical Chinese words and usages, dialects, slang, ballads, proverbs and other language forms can be borrowed. Literary language such as Tao Zhu's "The Style of Pine Trees": "The vitality of pine trees can be said to be strong! Pine trees require very little from people." Those who use ballads and proverbs such as: Zhu Kezhen's "The Language of Nature" quotes "Grandpa and grandma, "Cut the wheat and plant the crops." In Li Daoyuan's "Wu Gorge", "The Three Gorges of the Yangtze River are long, and the apes cry three times and shed tears on their clothes."
⒋The poem is rich.
Like novels and dramas, prose does not rely on fictitious storylines, conflicts and characters to attract readers, but relies on rich poetic flavor and rational interest to infect readers. Pursue poetry in lyrical and narrative prose. Some essayists say that true prose is full of poetry, just like an apple full of juice. Prose without poetry is lifeless. Therefore, prose writers strive to seek poetry in life and make their works poetic. Yang Shuo said: "Don't understand the word poetry in a narrow sense. There is poetry in the apricot blossoms and spring rain, but the heroic spirit of the iron horse and the Jinge is even more poetic. In your struggle, labor, and life, there will always be something that touches you. It makes you excited, makes you happy, makes you sad, makes you think deeply... Whenever I encounter such emotional things, I will think about them again and again, and later they will often form the ideological mood in my articles." "I am. When writing each article, always write it as if it were a poem. "Always cut the material, arrange the layout, and refine the words again and again like writing a poem." ("The First Branch of the East Wind", quoted from "Xiaofa". "Selected Prefaces and Postscripts of Modern Prose" P190, Baihua Literature and Art Publishing House 1983)
The poetry of prose is inseparable from the fact that it is a lyrical style, and the concentration of its poetry is always related to the depth of the author's emotions. Proportional. Why is prose better than lyricism? Because: a. Prose generally uses the first person, writing about what "I" see, hear, and feel. No matter what is written, its purpose is to express the author's life feelings and thoughts and opinions, with a strong emotional color, and is "the song of the author's soul" (Golky). b. Prose has its own special style, which is the so-called prose style. The style of prose is, firstly, concise language, graceful and full of literary talent; secondly, the writing style is flexible and free.
In argumentative prose, pursuing the rationale and interest of the article is also a manifestation of the poetic nature of the prose. Zhu Ziqing commented on Lu Xun's mixed feelings and said: "What attracts me here is of course humor, but there is something else, that is, traditional rationality. Now we can say that it is the crystallization of reason, and this is also poetry." The article makes us shocked by the author's profound thoughts and impressed by the incisive arguments in it. Such as Han Yu's "Ma Shuo" and Zhu Ziqing's "Hurry". Reasoning in prose is different from argumentative writing. It must rely on images to reason (Su Shi's "Red Cliff Ode"), blending emotion and reason so that it "expresses both people's feelings and people's thoughts." (Plehanno) Husband's language)
⒌Beautiful language
Beautiful language is an important aspect of prose that makes it beautiful. Prose language has the following characteristics:
① Pay attention to literary talent.
A variety of techniques are commonly used, either thick ink and heavy color, or light brushwork and light color, focusing on expressing the "painting" of things and reproducing beautiful images. Some prose writers consciously change common words into strange words to better express the "poetry" and "picturesque" of prose. For example, the first few sentences in Mr. Zhu Ziqing's "Spring":
Peach trees, apricot trees, and pear trees, if you don't let me, and I won't let you, they are all full of flowers. The red ones are like fire, the pink ones are like clouds, and the white ones are like snow.
Another example is the passage about the sound of the flute in "Red Cliff Ode":
The sound is like a whine, like resentment, like admiration, like weeping, like complaining, and the lingering sound is like a wisp. The lurking dragon dances in the secluded ravine, and the concubine weeps in the lonely boat.
Prose pays attention to literary talent, but it does not only use gorgeous language. Some essayists use the most ordinary language to write extremely beautiful articles. The so-called "homely style". Such as Wei Wei's "My Teacher".
②Flexible release.
The author can think about it, add color at will, intersperse it with emotion, sometimes narrate, sometimes discuss, sometimes express emotion, or blend them together. It can be said that you can move around and do whatever you want.
③ Pay attention to rhythm.
The sentence pattern is full of changes. Sometimes parallel and scattered sentences are alternated, and flat and oblique are balanced; Please look at a section from Yuan Ying's "Green Mountains and Green Bamboo": In the bloody storm, the moso bamboo turns green and yellow, and turns yellow and green again. Do not bow to cruelty, do not bend to the enemy. When the bamboo is burned, there are still bamboo branches; When the bamboo branches are broken, there are still bamboo whips; when the bamboo whips are broken, there are still bamboo roots buried deep in the ground.
To learn prose writing, you need to master both gorgeous literary grace and simple literary grace. It is not easy to write gorgeously, but it is even harder to write plainly. Xu Chi's articles are very literary. He often uses the method of fu and uses metaphor and rhetoric to make his writing gorgeous. But he said: "Only when you write simply can you show your true literary talent. Great essayists of ancient and modern times all write in this way. The greater the writer, the more mature he becomes, the simpler his writing becomes. And the literary talent shines On the plain pages. "We must also see that whether it is gorgeous or simple, the literary language of prose comes from fresh and lively spoken language, and is also an inheritance of the creativity of excellent ancient prose. , which is also the result of careful selection, tempering and processing by the author.
⒍ (length) short and concise.
Prose is generally short in length, with fewer levels and not very complex structure, but it also has the characteristics of essential material selection, concise and comprehensive words, and profound ideas. Yu Dafu "Sees the world in a grain of sand, and human feelings in half a flower." ("Selected Preface and Postscripts of Modern Prose") Qin Mu said: "Like the gardens in Suzhou, they are small, but they have a profound realm and a broad world.
("Garden Fan Painting Prose" see "Bi Tan Prose")