A Second Look at Kishotenketsu

While it may be pushing it to call 2018 the Summer of Light Novels for Pulp Rev folk, the conversations around this outgrowth of the pulps have sparked a critical examination of these works. While most suffer from poor translations and a lack of craftsmanship, a rough charm remains, enough that several techniques are being explored. The main one is the story structure of Kishōtenketsu, which has entered the conversation through the usual Western appeal: a story without conflict. I discussed it earlier at this blog, but Brian Niemeier presents a new look at this unusual form:

Let’s start with the word itself. It’s made up of the names of the four different acts of the structure:

Ki : Introduction 

Shō : Development 

Ten : Twist (complication)  

Ketsu : Conclusion (reconciliation) 

The first act is self explanatory. It’s where we’re introduced to the story and we get to know the characters taking part and the world they live in. 

Similarly, the second act also doesn’t require much explanation. This is where we get to know the characters a little better. We learn about their relation to each other and their place in the world. This is where we develop an emotional connection to the characters. 

The third act however, the twist, is where things get a bit complicated. I’ve seen this act referred to as complication, and while I don’t think that’s technically correct, I feel it’s a better name. Calling it a twist brings with it associations to plot-twists as we know them from more traditional western narratives. 

This isn’t necessarily the case here. It can be, but it doesn’t have to. However, it’s often something unexpected, and usually unrelated to what’s happened in the first two acts. 

Finally, the fourth act is about the impact of the third act on the first two acts. This is why I like the term reconciliation. The third act will affect the situation presented in the first and second act, and in the fourth act the state of the world in first and second act is reconciled with the events of the the third.You can see how cultural differences between East and West come through in each culture's preferred storytelling methods. 

Kishōtenketsu emphasizes developing a cast of characters over focusing on an individual protagonist. The Eastern approach is also more concerned with reconciling the story's events to the status quo ante.

There're a couple observations to add.

As Brian says, and much to many a post-modernist critic's disgust, this doesn't mean that the story does not have conflict. Just watch a Shaw Brothers kung fu film to see evidence of conflict in kishotenketsu. But the conflict is not built into the structure of the story like in Western works. Instead, it becomes part of the milieu for episodic adventures. And just as a three-act writer will string together multiple try-fail cycles in a story, many light novels and Chinese films combine multiple kishotenketsu cycles together into one story. It takes clever plotting to do this without feeling aimless or disconnecting from lore, as can be seen in the faults of several xian'xia tales and light novels. 

The strengths Brian describes and the weaknesses together are key components to the style of fiction I call Blue Slime Fantasy, which uses Dragon Quest and MMOs for inspiration. In Western circles, Blue Slime is a key driver in the glut of litRPGs and harem fantasies. But more on that later.

Finally, let's give credit where credit is due. Kishotenketsu, despite the Japanese name, is a Chinese invention with roots in that nation's poetry and rhetoric. That we have comes to know it by the Japanese word is an example of how Western cultures tend to gravitate to japonisme over chinoiserie. Take one belle, call her Meiling one day, and Misuzu the next, and it will be the girl in the kimono who gathers all the attention. But despite the origin, kishotenketsu is part of a system of thought that does not come naturally to Western culture.