YAN LIANKE’S DREAM OF DING VILLAGE FROM THE SYSTEM OF CULTURAL INTERTEXT

Abstract

A text mirrors reality. Every life phenomenon can be viewed as a small “text” that constitutes a large text reflecting the whole world. Intertextuality might appear in the spatial-temporal connections between the text’s ideas and its immemorial cultural origins. This article examines the intertextuality in Yan Lianke’s Dream of Ding Village leveraging the theories presented in Chinese cosmogonic myth, the Book of Genesis and regression in existential philosophy. By putting Dream of Ding Village in the intertextual perspectives of Chinese and Western texts, the article contributes a fresh view into this work. It fosters the insight that among the myriads of texts that constantly “collide” and “interact” with each other, Dream of Ding Village remains a unique existence with its self-generating creative values.