清末南方白话报刊小说,大体以开民智、振民气为旨归,带有鲜明的政治启蒙色彩,与梁启超倡导的小说界革命形成了呼应之势。以白话道人、胡适、黑心等为代表的白话报刊小说作家的积极探索精神,使得此期的部分短篇小说体现出某种先锋意味,在小说创作观念、小说体式乃至主题模式等方面,对五四之后的现代短篇小说创作具有一定的启迪意义。
In late Qing Dynasty,many vernacular novels appeared on newspapers in southern provinces.They focused on enlightenment and national morale motivation,hence demonstrating apparent political enlightenment and echoing Liang Qichao's appellation of revolution in novel circle.The vernacular novel writers,typically Baihua Daoren,Hu-shih,and Heixin,displayed great pioneering exploration spirits.Their exploration brought into hort novels some pioneering styles which inspired the short novels after May-fourth movement in their writing philosophy,genre and themes.