Abstract
At the turn of the 20th century, the blend of the “political novels” and the tradition of “historical biography” in the Confucian cultural sphere produced a sub-genre, the historical-biographical political novel. These novels predominantly utilize foreign historical events, employing fictional techniques to “supplement” historical details. The Japanese writer Yano Fumio's Admirable Stories of Ruling the Country and its Chinese translation, adaptation into traditional opera, as well as Lu Xun's Spirit of Sparta, epitomize this literary sub-genre. An in-depth analysis of these works reveals the stylistic value of the political novel. The inclusion of fictional fragments in these stories corroborates the political realities of modern China and Japan, and illustrates the process through which ancient Greek history was assimilated into the modern nation-state narratives during its propagation in modern East Asia.
Keywords
Admirable Stories of Ruling the Country, Spirit of Sparta, the political novel, Lu Xun, ancient Greek history
First Page
141
Last Page
151
Recommended Citation
Jiaqi, Shi. 2024. "The Transfiguration of Political Novels: Ancient Greek History and the Construction of Modern East Asian National Consciousness." Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art 44, (4): pp.141-151. https://tsla.researchcommons.org/journal/vol44/iss4/15
