(A photo documentary, revealing personality.
Prose is the most authentic style in various literary genres, which is the most important feature of prose. However, there have always been two understandings of the authenticity of prose. One is that prose must be completely faithful to the original face of life, and the characters and events in prose are not allowed to be fictional except for the necessary artistic processing in the cutting of materials and the description of details. If there is distortion, it will appear false and artificial, weakening the expression effect. Another point of view is that prose can be made up in details or parts on the premise of overall documentary, so as to enhance artistic authenticity. This is different from the artistic generalization of a wide range of novels and plays, and only refers to the appropriate transformation of materials, in which realism is still dominant and fiction is only a supplement, that is, the so-called "big reality and small emptiness".
We should analyze these two understandings dialectically. First of all, there are a large number of two kinds of essays with different degrees of truth. The former is mostly historical biography, nostalgia, memories and other documentary prose, while the latter is mostly lyrical "retired" prose. Secondly, due to the complexity of life and the limitations of human understanding, it is very difficult or even impossible to completely and truly reproduce the original appearance of life. The Italian philosopher Croce famously said, "All true history is contemporary history" [2]. We might as well say that all the truth in prose is the truth in the author's consciousness. Even in documentary prose is no exception. Xu Beihong's first and second wives, Jiang Biwei and Liao, each wrote a biography for Xu Beihong [3], but the images of Xu Beihong in the two books are quite different. Chen Tushou's "Shen Congwen at the Wumen Gate" and "Talking about Shen Lao's Concern and Unforgettable Memories" are both stories between Shen and Fan [4], but the stories in the two articles are quite different. Third, some essays belonging to the second authenticity were unknown to readers at first, but the value of the works did not seem to decrease. For example, Bing Xin's Little Orange Lamp, He Wei's The Second Inspection and Han's Overture have all explained the fictional truth elsewhere, but this does not prevent readers from enjoying it. The fictional factors of some narrative elements in Liu Liangcheng's One Man's Village are obvious at a glance, but this does not prevent it from becoming a prose structure with good reputation.
No matter what kind of understanding, there is no doubt that prose is a style in which writers reveal their personality directly to readers. This is different from novels, where writers often put on masks and invisibility cloaks and speak in a narrator's tone. Although the "I" in Lu Xun's "Blessing" and "Hometown" has Lu Xun's shadow, we can never regard them as Lu Xun himself. They are just fictional characters arranged by Lu Xun to undertake narrative tasks. And the "I" in the essays Kite and Mr. Fujino can be boldly judged to be Lu Xun. Prose is a positive communication between the author and the reader. Here, with his naked soul, he tells his story most sincerely and pours out his heart.
Therefore, we might as well have a broader understanding of the authenticity of prose. Any prose that is faithful to its own personality and expresses its thoughts and artistic feelings truly and accurately, as long as it adheres to a basic principle: revealing the true face of the author's soul, there is no rule beyond authenticity.
(B) a wide range of topics, to convey feelings as the center.
Prose "three" originally means "not rhyming" and "not parallel". But if we understand it as "sloppy", it does not violate the essence of prose. This kind of rambling is manifested in the subject matter, that is, the freedom of selecting materials for prose. There are still some requirements for the selection of novel and drama, such as the material of novel should contain full characters and complete stories, and the theme of drama should have fierce contradictions and tense conflicts. These standards are not necessary conditions for prose. In this way, the choice of prose has gained a wide range of freedom, as Zhou Libo said: "All major international and domestic events, the cells of social families, the waves that lift the sky, the insignificance of one thing, one's personal experience, a little feeling, a pinch of sadness and joy, repeated meditation, the sadness of the past and the joy of the present can all be moved to paper and contributed to readers." [5]
Although the essayist has all the freedom to be frustrated by the pen, "prose is the art of love" [6]. Only those materials that touch the writer's feelings and contain unique and typical life feelings can be transformed into exquisite prose art, so the essayist does not look at its completeness and profundity like a novelist, nor at its plays like a playwright, but first looks at the truth and uniqueness of emotions. Shi Tiesheng wrote about ditan park in "I and Ditan", and a dozen characters appeared in succession, but none of them appeared in the writer's distinctive personality and dramatic complete experience. Shi Tiesheng only pays attention to one aspect of them: mother's love and anxiety, the old couple's mutual care, the simple and dedicated female engineer, the enthusiasm of the singer, the persistence of the long-distance runner, the leisure of the alcoholic old man, and the brotherly affection of his brother and sister ... These ordinary aspects of life are not the most essential part of each of them, but they are the most important to the essayist Shi Tiesheng. It is these fragments that reflect the simple survival consciousness and life state, their pursuit or misfortune, and their rich and unique spiritual feelings.
(3) Flexible brushwork and beautiful language.
Prose "San" can also be regarded as a generalization of the flexibility of prose expression. Prose is spontaneous, has no formal pattern, and can be freely played. As Su Shi said, "My prose is like a spring, gushing out unscrupulously", "It twists and turns with the stone, and takes shape with the thing" [7], "It is like flowing water, with no definite quality at first, often doing what it should do, and often stopping at what it should do. The arts and sciences are natural and have a posture "[8].
The flexibility of prose writing is manifested in two aspects: brushwork and composition. In terms of brushwork, prose can freely use narrative, description, lyricism, discussion, explanation and other expressions, which can be expressed positively or implicitly. In composition, prose has no fixed structural rules. Its structural center is varied, which can be centered on people or typical details. Can be centered on scenery, symbolic things and abstract feelings; The structural form is also eclectic, and the transformation of time and space, the progression of emotion and the deepening of understanding can all be the basis of organizational materials. In short, prose reflects life and expresses ideas in a free way. Some people call prose "the style of the elderly", which means "follow one's inclinations without overstepping the bounds".
Beautiful language is an important factor in the aesthetic feeling of prose. The linguistic beauty of prose is first manifested as natural simplicity, which shows the writer's personality characteristics in the way of discourse; Secondly, the writer's narrative and landscape painting can harmoniously integrate the inside story with the outside world, the inner voice with nature, and convey the writer's unique feelings and interests through language and colorful pictures. Excellent essayists attach great importance to tempering language and forming a distinctive language style. Lu Xun's Weeds, He Qifang's Painting Dreams, Zhu Ziqing's Moonlight on the Lotus Pond, Yang Shuo's Snow Waves, Yu Guangzhong's Listening to the Cold Rain and Shi Tiesheng's Me and Ditan are all examples of the linguistic beauty of China's modern prose.
Prose is uncertain in style, so its categories are complex. Generally speaking, according to the main forms of expression, it can be divided into lyric prose, narrative prose and argumentative prose. In addition, there are several common prose styles, which have their own specific names because of their large number and obvious personality, and have the trend of becoming independent from prose, such as essays, essays, reportage and documentary literature. Prose can be classified as lyric prose, essays are short and pithy literary and political prose, and reportage and documentary literature can be classified as narrative prose because of their realistic narrative characteristics.