A Study of the Disaster Narrative in Chi Zijian's " Snow and Raven"

Abstract

This paper takes Chi Zijian’s novel Snow and Raven as the research object to explore its unique disaster narrative model. Distinct from the grand narratives of panic, destruction, and heroism in traditional disaster literature, Chi Zijian adopts a de-spectacularized narrative strategy: she depicts the mundane urban life in Fujia Dian of Harbin in detail, and by portraying the living conditions, emotional entanglements, and human choices of ordinary people amid the plague, constructs a disaster narrative with "everydayness" and "humanity" at its core. From four dimensions—narrative perspective, spatial construction, character portrayal, and thematic connotation—this paper analyzes how Snow and Raven transforms a horrific public health crisis into a profound reflection on the dignity of life, human resilience, and civilized order, Ultimately, it reveals the profound humanistic concern and historical warmth underlying the work.