Explore wang Anyi’s borrowing techniques in “The Song of Everlasting Sorrow”

Abstract

This article aims to explore the borrowing technique used by the famous writer Wang Anyi in “The Song of Everlasting Sorrow.” Through the analysis of specific examples, it further studies the role of the borrowing technique in the expression of the novel’s theme and reveals how Wang Anyi employs this technique to reflect the inner world of the main protagonist, Wang Qiyao, as well as the old Shanghai culture and secular life. Borrowing technique is a rhetorical form that is vivid and engaging by representing one thing with another. For instance, Wang Anyi uses “Director Li’s status” to refer to “power and status” and “lane rose” to refer to “Wang Qiyao’s youth.” This article will delve deeply into the internal role of Wang Anyi’s borrowing technique in “The Song of Everlasting Sorrow” and the core of Wang Anyi’s writing about Shanghai through the utilization of this technique.