Revisiting the definition of fable:Co-construction of Literary Genre and Modes of Thoughts
It is impossible to obtain a comprehensive understanding of the concept of fable only from the characteristics of genre.The fable in ancient Greece was merely considered an"exemplary"form by Aristotle,while by the seventeenth century,La Fontaine's fables had ascended to the realm of high literature.In the course of the cognitive development of fable,definers have attempted to characterize succinctly the exclusivity of fable as a literary genre.However,the basis for describing and qualifying fables extends far beyond their literary characteristics.Evolving from a mode of communication to a literary genre,and eventually becoming a widely recognized cultural concept,fables fundamentally embody a mode of thought.The deductive law of fable from narrative to moral is the core of its meaning when it is perceived as a concept.In fable thinking,the text of the fable is a translatable"allegory",whereas the moral is the outcome of the"mechanized translation"of the allegory.Fables,therefore,facilitate effective dissemination under the precondition of shared modes of thought between creators and recipients.
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