Chinese Literature. Literature & Language Essay Paper

XiaoXiao by Shen Congwen and Spring Silkworms by Mao Dun: A Comparison
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CHINESE LITERATURE
XiaoXiao by Shen Congwen and Spring Silkworms by Mao Dun are among some of the best and most influential literary pieces in the Chinese realism literature. Xiaoxiao is a story about a well behaved, respectful, and bold girl named Xiaoxiao, who lived with her uncle old for twelve years before being married off to Sonny, a two-year-old. Substantially, the story surrounds her married life with Sonny and their farmhand, Motley Mutt, who impregnates and abandons her to face the wrath of the punishment of being drowned. Still, her life is spared by Grandfather, who decides that she should be left to stay with the in-laws. On the other hand, Spring Silkworms by Mao Dun is about the struggles of an elderly peasant called Dung Bao and the attempts of other silkworm farmers to produce the best of their yields in the spring season in one of the most productive parts in China. However, although the product was high and relevant that year, all silk industries were closed, and he sent his two sons, A Su and A Duo, on a six-day journey to look for open markets. Among the writing techniques used in the two articles, the most prominent ones are the use of third-person narrative, vivid description, and setting, which have been used to effectively illustrate realism in their works and related to the Chinese literature.[Shen, Congwen. “Xiaoxiao.” Trans. Eugene Chen Eoyang. The Columbia Anthology of Modern Chinese Literature. Ed. Joseph S.M. Lau and Howard Goldblatt. New York, NY: Columbia University Press, 1995. p. 97-110. Print.] [Mao, Dun. "Spring Silkworms." Trans. Sidney Shapiro. The Columbia Anthology of Modern Chinese Literature. Ed. Yingxue Ashley Liu. New York, NY: Columbia University Press, 1994. p 1-24.]
Firstly, the authors used the third person narrative to write their short stories. This is evident in their use of pronouns like “he”, “she” and “they” among others as in one of the Xiaoxiao sentences, “Xiaoxiao grew very tall, and she would often climb the sloping sides of the haystack, carrying in her arms her already sleeping husband, softly singing self- improvised folk melodies”. This point of view in narration is also present in Spring Silkworm as in “But today he probably was a little grumpy, and so he walked empty-handed with only six trays on his head”. The authors have used the third person to emphasize realism in literature by allowing themselves, the writers, to act as the omniscient narrator where they could give information about the characters and situations without the actors knowing anything about it.[Shen, Congwen. “Xiaoxiao.” Trans. Eugene Chen Eoyang. The Columbia Anthology of Modern Chinese Literature. Ed. Joseph S.M. Lau and Howard Goldblatt. New York, NY: Columbia University Press, 1995. p. 97-110. Print.] [Mao, Dun. "Spring Silkworms." Trans. Sidney Shapiro. The Columbia Anthology of Modern Chinese Literature. Ed. Yingxue Ashley Liu. New York, NY: Columbia University Press, 1994. p 1-24.]
Secondly, the writers have used vivid description in their texts. The a...