Paratextual narrative and its functions in We Three

This essay closely examines the (sub-)paratext and (sub-)paratextual narrative in We Three (《我们仨》) by Yang Jiang in an attempt to reveal the different roles (sub-)paratext and its narrative play in different places and its special functions in We Three. Following a theoretical discussion of paratext by Gerard Genette, the authors argue that (sub-)paratext and (sub-)paratextual narrative, whether subordinate or not, not only play a crucial role in the works like We Three, but also offer a crystal lens by which both the style and meaning of the text proper could be revealed in a different way. The effect and function of the (sub-)paratext in We Three lie in three aspects, namely, to tell more telling stories or add additional information, to complement the main narrative text, and/or to help reveal deep feelings and family ties with more stylistic variations. Indeed, a close examination into We Three reveals that the (sub-)paratext and the narrative embedded in the (sub-)paratext as typically seen in the three appendices of We Three turn out to be more important than the “text” and “textual narrative” proper even to the extent that the table turned at once, i.e. the text paratextualized and the paratext textualized. The change of the roles the textual narrative and paratextual narrative play, as best exemplified in Appendix One of We Three, in the final analysis, forms a unique narrative strategy in Yang Jiang’s autobiographic narrative in question.