주관의 발견과 지양 - 도쿄 시기 샤오훙 단편집 『우차 위에서』(1937)의 자전적 리얼리즘

Abstract

This paper explores the literary significance of Xiao Hong’s autobiographical narratives included in On the Oxcart, the collection of short stories written during Xiao’s residence in Tokyo in 1936. Coming between Xiao Hong’s masterpieces The Field of Life and Death and Tales of Hulan River, these narratives are crucial in understanding the stylistic differences between the two masterpieces. Written during the period when Xiao was isolated and displaced in Tokyo, these autobiographical narratives not only helped the author search for the “self” and existential solace, but also urged her to face the external world via her memory of the past. At the same time, however, I argue that while the first person narrators in these narratives mediate the subjective perception of the objective world, the narratives foreground the limits of the subjective perception rather than fortifying the conditions of perception. The first person narrators in both “The Family Outsider” and “On the Oxcart” are young children who do not really understand or sympathize with the lower class characters and thus effectively reveal the limits of narration. The significance of Xiao Hong’s autobiographical narratives can be better articulated when examined in relation to the realist projects of Lu Xun and Hu Feng. While Hu Feng, who has been considered a successful heir to Lu Xun’s pursuit for subjective sincerity in realist literature, called for tenacious subjectivity with “subjective fighting spirit,” Xiao Hong created subjects who are even less privileged than the characters to be observed and are thus allowed deliberately limited capacity for perception. Xiao Hong’s achievement in her realist practice lies in both recognizing subjectivity to open up windows towards the objective world and sublating the subjectivity to reveal its limitations.