Li Yu's polyphony: the case of Wusheng Xi

It has been said (Owen, 1986; Wang, 1997) that each Chinese writer bears within his-her writings the burden of his-her cultural and literary heritage. The presence of the past (crystallized in the figure of Confucius and in his teachings) in Chinese literature is so evident that each of the classic writers, especially up to the premodern period, is brought to face it somehow. Late Ming-Early Qing writer and playwright Li Yu 李漁 (1611-1680) aimed to subvert this trend, but rather than detaching himself from it, he attempted to twist the traditional Chinese ideals and models, and this is especially visible in his short stories. What emerges from his novellas is an interesting, three-layered polyphony, which features the (subverted and parodied) voice of the past, with Li Yu’s exuberant personality, and the voice of the story itself, which at times struggles to break away from both the burdens of the past and Li Yu’s continuous direct interventions. This paper focuses on Li’s first collection of short stories, called Wu Sheng Xi 無聲戲 (Mute Operas). It ultimately aims to show how the author, though apparently limited by the short story format, manages to create a diverse, multi-voiced world, in which tradition is viewed through the lens of parody and sarcasm.