Abstract

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Title:: Influence of Commentaries and Annotations on the Form of theNovels in Ming and Qing Dynasties

Abstract:: During the Ming and Qing dynasties，in different versions of the same story，some commentariesand annotations offered by the critics on the margins of previous texts were often converted into an organicpart of the body of the text in the following versions. Therefore，the text of the novel usually underwentsome changes. The literary critics in the Ming and Qing dynasties，whose criticism was characterized by thecombination of commentary and re-wording，actually assumed the role of“ second author”“ . The secondauthors”，collaborating with the original authors，determined the form and evolution of the novels throughaddition，deletion，re-wording and adaptation. However，the annotations and comments they made on themargins of the different copies of the text all depend parasitically on the body of the text，lacking independenttextual value. Other paratexts like appendices，though being important components influencing the forms of thenovels in the Ming and Qing dynasties，also rely on the body text to spread.