various genres

[82riceballs]

I've been trying to figure out how to say the following in Chinese:

Genre: 文學類型

Science Fiction: 科幻小說

Historical Fiction: 歷史小說？？？

Fantasy Fiction: 幻想小說？？？

Crime Fiction: 罪案小說

Realistic Fiction: 現使小說？？？

Contemporary Fiction: 現代小說？？？

Please help me with these. Thanks! =)

[skylee]

Consider 寫實 for realistic。

There are terms like -

• 章回小説
  
• 武俠小説
  
• 傷痕文學
  
• 愛情小説
  
• 言情小説
  
• 偵探小説
  
• 報告文學
  
• 推理小説
  
• 翻譯小説
  
• 繪本
  
• 靈幻小説
  

[82riceballs]

um... could you translate the ones you listed please? Thanks

[roddy]

Or perhaps you could use a dictionary to try and translate them yourself, and then Skylee and other kind-hearted people can correct any errors. dict.cn . . .

[82riceballs]

ok, methinks i will try! =)

章回小説 chapter book? i can't find this one on dict.cn

武俠小説 adventure; emprise novel

傷痕文學 "scar literature" (according to wikipedia) abt sufferings of people under Chairman Mao & Gang of Four

愛情小説 love story

言情小説 romantic fiction (um... what's the difference b/w this one and the previous one?)

偵探小説 detective fiction

報告文學 reportage/journalism

推理小説 detective fiction (according to wiki) what's the difference b/w this one and 偵探小說?

翻譯小説 translated book?

繪本 picture book (is this another way to say 圖畫書? )

靈幻小説 spiritual novel?

btw, do the ones that I listed in my previous post make sense? Thanks for you help!

[skylee]

I think the Chinese terms in #1 are ok, except 現使小說, which I think should be 寫實小說. Personally I don't use the term 罪案小說, which sounds odd. But I am not sure what "crime fiction" is in Chinese. Or what "crime fiction" is at all.

I remember reading somewhere on this website that there are strict definitions for the terms "modern" and "contemporary" and "現代" and "近代" but I don't recall them (cause I don't care).

You did a good job in #5. I would think that 偵探小説 would involve some detectives whereas 推理小説 might not. I am not sure about the difference between 言情小説 and 愛情小説 either. I think they are just different terms meaning the same thing with no real difference. 繪本 is a new genre, of which the leading author IMHO is Jimmy 幾米. You could google about his works. Simply put, 靈幻小説 is ghost stories and the like. 武俠小説 is about swordsmanship, kungfu, etc. My favourite writer of 武俠小説 is 金庸.

章回小説 is a term used to describe traditional chinese novels which are long and are divided into chapters (take a look -> http://www.baidu.com/baidu?ie=gb2312&ct=1048576&cl=3&word=%D5%C2%BB%D8%D0%A1%D5h). Before the emergence of these long novels in Song Dynasty, stories tended to be shorter. (well I've gathered this information on the internet).

[imron]

In Chinese literature (or at least the Chinese literature originating from mainland China), 现代 usually refers to 1917-1949. 当代 refers to 1949-present, but many academics would argue that from 1949 till the late 70's/early 80's no real works of note were produced.

[fireball9261]

I will cover the Chinese genre on Chinese eBook sites on the internet:

架空小說 Social fantasies based on actual or imagined universe -- Equivalent to the Alternative history fictions in the West.

同人小說 Fans writing stories based on their favorite novels/animations/comic books/movies/games, etc.

美文 Beautiful essays - Usually lots of beautiful words and talking about feelings and no one quite understand what's the point of the essay. Maybe useful for learning nice sounding Chinese phrases and sentences. It might be good for love letter writting.

军事小說 Stories about military life

都市小說 Stories about city life.

仙侠小說 Stories about Chinese immortals/fairies that are involved in martial art types of environment.

玄幻小說 Stories about gods/demons/fairies/immortals, etc. Most dealing with the Chinese kind, and very few deal with some Western kind.

奇幻 小說 Stories about strange phenomena and fantasy, like monsters (not the spiritual kind), etc. There are both Chinese, Western, as well as imaginary.

游戏小說 Stories about people playing virtual reality games and got into virtual reality worlds.

竞技小說 Stories about competitions

灵异小說 Stories about spirits, ghosts, 6 senses, etc.

耽美小說 Stories about homosexuality and usually written by women for women.

同志小說 Stories about homosexuality and usually written by homosexuals for homosexuals.

禁忌小說 Forbidden stories - usually S M or P o r n stuff.

[fireball9261]

愛情小説 love story

言情小説 romantic fiction (um... what's the difference b/w this one and the previous one?)

愛情小説 love story - similar to the Weathering Heights or Jane Eyre, the Love Story, etc. Better written and could have sad/tragic endings.

言情小説 romantic fiction - similar to books written by American writers, like Danielle Steel, Rosemary Rogers, Connie Mason, etc. A bit more trashy, must have happy endings, etc.

[imron]

And this from the bookstore today: 悬疑小说 - Suspense/thrillers.

[Han-tiger]

The Chinese translation of Crime Fiction can be “刑侦小说” . (刑侦is short for 刑事侦查)