简论晚清社会小说的现实特征

晚清社会小说观念产生于作家、理论家对现实的思考,现实品格成为这类小说的突出特征,或抨击时弊,揭露官场丑行;或反映社会灾乱,揭示人民疾苦;或吸取西学,改良陈规陋习;或抵御外侮,弘扬民族精神。总之,社会小说描绘了广阔的社会生活画面,比较真实客观地记录了社会的许许多多问题和现象,同时更描述了衙门官场的各种丑恶现象,以及作为社会思潮出现的各种大大小小的社会运动,具有很强的美学价值和认识价值。

Realistic Features of Social Novels in the Late Qing Dynasty

The conception of the social novels in the late Qing Dynasty stemmed from the writers' examination on the reality,which was the prominent feature of this kind of novel.Their novels fulminated the society,exposed the malpractice of the government,reflected the social disorders,revealed people's misery,assimilated the Western culture,eradicated the outdated customs,defended the insult from foreign countries and promoted the national spirit.In short,the novels described the panorama of the social life and recorded many social problems and phenomena,which was of great aesthetic and cognitive values.