국가의 주인은 누구에게 조반하는가? —차오정루 《민주 수업》(2013)의 문화대혁명 해석

Abstract

This paper explores how exactly A Lesson on Democracy’s understanding of the Cultural Revolution differs from the existing interpretations of the event. The paper first lays out major issues and views found in academic discussions of the Cultural Revolution, and then examines the novel’s distinctive views on the incident through the episodes of three main characters. Like recent studies which shed new light on the rebel movements, A Lesson on Democracy makes a clear distinction between early red guards and later rebel groups, but it does not fully endorse the latter. What the novel rescues from the ruins of the Cultural Revolution is not the rebels as groups, but the true meaning of rebellion as practice. While existing scholarly discourse presupposes the opposition between popular movement and the state, A Lesson on Democracy goes beyond this opposition. According to the novel, rebellion does not naturally mean resistance against the state. Instead, rebellion refers to the act of bravely speaking up against those persons and deeds that compromise the public interest. Democracy, therefore, is defined in the novel as the condition where everyone stands as an owner of the state and has the right to rebel for the public interest.