关键词: 才学小说, 百科全书式小说, 鲁迅, 爱德华·门德尔松, 文类研究

Abstract: Both the “novels of erudition” in China's mid-Qing and the encyclopedic novels in the Western literature contain a large body of professional knowledge and exhibit a nation's culture at large.However,the two genres are quite different in terms of their historical origins,contents of knowledge,and trajectory of development.This paper attempts to make a systematic comparative study of the two similar genres in terms of these three aspects.Its approach is parallel research,which includes the perspective of genre studies and the comparison of their similarities and differences.The purpose is to gain a better command of their historical evolution,thematic concerns and artistic features;meanwhile,it could provide valuable references and exemplifications for comparative literature and genre studies.Through this research,the paper concludes that both genres are subversive to the modern aesthetic autonomy,and although they have their inherent limitations and uncertainties,the zeitgeist they represent,their narrative ideas and aesthetic consciousness,have been in continuous development in variant forms.They can serve as effective perspectives in examining the boundaries of literary genres and exploring their cultural implications.

Key words: novel of erudition, encyclopedic novel, Lu Xun, Edward Mendelson, genre studies