Abstract:

The late Ming parodic literature manifests itself as an innovated style based on the tradition of Chinese humorous literature. By means of vulgar imitation in the absurd senses of "crowning" and "de-crowning," it creates a comedic effect disagreeing with the original text and actualizes a restrained mockery of the social norm. The aim, however, is to appeal to the rationalization of human desire and the legitimatization of physical lust. The rise of aesthetic parody, on the internal level, stems from late Ming literature's conceptual shift from morality to entertainment and its narrative departure from traditional storytelling; on the external level, it is related to the emergence of consumer society and that of mass media in the late Ming dynasty. The investigation into late Ming aesthetics of parody, on the one hand, provides an intriguing case for the study of Chinese aesthetic culture; on the other hand, it signifies a reconsideration of the Western theory of parody based on the Chinese experience and further begets a possibility of rewriting the history of modern Chinese literature.

Key words: parody, crowning, de-crowning, literary modernity in the late Ming dynasty, the aesthetics of parody