Answer for question 2:

I am surprised by Yu Hua’s approach to history writing cause I think “The Past and the
Punishments” is quite different from the works we have read in the last few weeks. Although I
didn't fully understand this novel, I think the way Yu Hua linked historical trauma to concrete
physical pain - punishment is interesting.

Answer for question 3:

Why did Yu Hua call the protagonist “the stranger” in “The Past and the Punishments”? (To
whom is this “stranger” strange? What kind of narrative perspective does this word reflect?)Why
did the author mess up the chronological order when he arranged the four time points “1958-1967-
1960-1971”?
Because this short story makes me feel difficult to understand, or there are too many
possibilities for understanding, so I am curious about the author’s purpose reflected in this difficult
writing style. Is the author's purpose to convey some historical idea behind the form? Or is it that
his purpose is “difficulty” itself, that is, he wants to trigger readers’ feelings of “confusion” and
"difficulty" about the history?
Finally, in these two readings, there is a strong contrast in the styles and methods of historical
writing between Chen Ruoxi and Yu Hua. I think that although Chen Ruoxi’s two novels are not as
artistic as Yu Hua’s novels, her plain and simple narrative style makes it easier for readers to
understand the historical events, characters' emotions and ideological connotations in the works.
In contrast, Yu Hua’s work have strong “avant-garde” characteristics. Although his work is
innovative in art and the way of expressing history, it also sacrifice the comprehensibility of the
works, thereby losing some potential readers. Therefore, from the perspective of reader
acceptance, if we assume that an important purpose of writing history is to record it, to let readers
who have not experienced that history know, feel and reflect on it, then can Yu Hua’s "avant-garde
style" be considered as an “effective” way of writing history? To ask further, how can literary
works with historical themes balance the two aspects of artistry and the "effectiveness" of
conveying history?

3/3