Food as a Narrative Code in Water Margin: Social Interaction and Behavioral Patterns
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Abstract
The paper consideres food-related imagery in the classical Chinese novel Water Margin (“水滸傳”) as a narrative tool that structures social interaction and shapes characters’ behavioral patterns. Rather than treating gastronomic references as descriptive details or ethnographic background, the study perceives scenes of eating, drinking, and food-related rituals as integral elements of the text’s narrative organization. The analysis demonstrates that culinary practices in the novel function as markers of social regulation, emotional control, and behavioral differentiation. Specific types of food and modes of consumption participate in the construction of social relations, the management of collective interaction, and the representation of individual dispositions such as impulsiveness, restraint, or strategic self-control. Through recurrent gastronomic scenes, the narrative articulates mechanisms of inclusion and exclusion, hierarchy and solidarity, norm and transgression, without explicit authorial commentary. Methodologically, the study combines narrative analysis, semiotic interpretation, and linguocultural analysis applied to the original Chinese text of the novel. The material comprises narratively significant scenes involving food and drink selected from across the entire text. These scenes are examined in terms of their role in plot development, characterization, and the regulation of social interaction. The novelty of the research consists in its systematic interpretation of food not as a static symbol of status or material culture, but as a dynamic narrative tool that shapes behavioral models and social dynamics within the fictional world. The findings show that gastronomic imagery in Water Margin contributes to the articulation of emotional responses, ethical tensions, and patterns of social conduct, thereby enhancing the reader’s understanding of character motivation and narrative logic. The study highlights the analytical potential of gastronomic imagery for interdisciplinary literary research and offers a model for integrating cultural practices into the narrative analysis of classical texts.
How to Cite
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behavioral models; classical Chinese literature; food imagery; gastronomic practices; narrative analysis; social interaction; Song dynasty; Water Margin (水滸傳)
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