Dream and Dreaming in Yan Lianke’s Fiction: The Dream of Ding Village and The Day the Sun Died
Dream and Dreaming in Yan Lianke’s Fiction: The Dream of Ding Village and The Day the Sun Died

Summary/Abstract: From ancient times to the present day, dreaming has been a cherished theme in Chinese fiction. This study focuses on its literary treatment in two novels by Yan Lianke: The Dream of Ding Village (Ding zhuang meng丁庄梦, 2006) and The Day the Sun Died (Rixi 日熄, 2015). The matters of interest discussed here are: what dreaming is in the particular context of each novel; who the dreamer/-s is/are; what the dreamscapes look like; how dreaming works and what it can – and does – achieve (for the dreamer/-s, as well as for other people around them); what message(s) the two books send to the reader, as their author passionately and thoroughly explores, again and again, from various perspectives, such a vast and challenging issue shaping his Weltanschauung and creative process. Usually translated into English as “mythorealism,” Yan Lianke’s shenshi zhuyi 神實主義 could also be designated by other labels, such as “hypnorealism,” or “oneiric realism,” or “psychorealism” – none of which can fully cover the semantic spectrum of the original Chinese syntagm, deeply informed by a vast and complex multimillennial culture.

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