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Shen, D. (2002). Rhetoric or Narratology? Classical or Postclassical? A Review of Seymour Chatman’s Rhetorical Narratology. Foreign Literature, No. 2, 40-46. (In Chinese)

has been cited by the following article:

• TITLE: Narrative Tension Construction of Extreme-Scale Quadrisyllabic Expressions from the Perspective of Rhetorical Narratology

  AUTHORS: Na Li, Jiayi Hao, Mingyang Du

  KEYWORDS: Extreme-Scale Quadrisyllabic Expressions (EQEs), Narrative Tension, English Translation Strategies

  JOURNAL NAME: Open Journal of Social Sciences, Vol.14 No.8, August 25, 2026

  ABSTRACT: Extreme-Scale Quadrisyllabic Expressions (EQEs), a distinctive four-character rhetorical form in Chinese, function as a core narrative device in rhetorical narratology, constructing vivid temporal and spatial imagery while intensifying readers’ emotional engagement. Drawing on 27 EQE excerpts from Mo Yan’s Red Sorghum and Howard Goldblatt’s authoritative English translation, this paper systematically examines how narrative tension operates within these expressions and identifies translation strategies best suited to preserving their emotional force and narrative function. These strategies are essentially helpful to avoid the failure of rhetorical conventionality and dissipation of narrative power in the original text caused by the degradation of narrative tension.