Iris Chang,a Chinese-American author,published her book The Rape of Nanking:The Forgotten Holocaust of World War Ⅱ in 1997.Since its publication,the book has been sold more than 500,000 copies and stayed on the New York Times bestseller list for three months.The Nanjing Massacre sparked intense debates and captured the interest of the global community due to its portrayal in the book.Recognized as a piece of historical work,the book has faced intense criticism for its insufficient rigor and objectivity.However,if we redefine the book as a form of documentary literature,its exceptional readability and diverse narrative are undoubtedly remarkable.Hence,the purpose of this article is to examine the literary aspects of The Rape of Nanking,using Abrams'four elements of literature(artist,work,audience,and universe)and the three key traits of realism(namely authenticity,typicality,and historicity)summarized by Lukacs.The book will be further analyzed to reveal its literary value in terms of Realism,which has been neglected for such a long time.In essence,this article suggests that genre classification should not be the sole measure when appraising a piece.To continuously enrich the exploration of realistic literature,researchers should prioritize the re-examination of literary history and the integration of non-fiction works such as biography,diary and historical documentary into the research framework.
关键词
张纯如/《南京大屠杀:第二次世界大战中被遗忘的大浩劫》/现实主义/文学四要素
Key words
Iris Chang/The Rape of Nanking:The Forgotten Holocaust of World War Ⅱ/Realism/Four elements of literature
维普
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