타자화 된 중국에 관한 일고찰 - 영화 <M. Butterfly>와 연극 <M. Butterfly>를 중심으로

Abstract

Focused on the movie ‘M. butterfly’ and the play ‘M. butterfly’ adapted from Henry Hwang’s playwright, this study, reviewed the issues related to ‘the West and the East’, ‘the first world and the third world’ ‘the ruling and the ruled’ and ‘the gender and the sexuality’. In addition, the study took a look at the narration of ‘Butterfly’ getting trapped into the dichotomous contradiction by the mode of escaping from the West’s typical discourse on the East and establishing the strategy of the self-duplicated orientalism, and thus it examined the aspect of China’s becoming more otherized as well. ‘M. Butterfly’ was written based on the actual events with the narration of the opera ‘Madam Butterfly’ as the basic plot, but a test which skillfully twisted the dynamic relations of the West & the males and the East & the females. However, the narration of ‘M. Butterfly’ is revealing its limitation of dismantling the West’s illusion about China but paradoxically firmly being trapped in the frame of the orientalism. This phenomenon can be observed in the fact that the movie ‘M. Butterfly’ established the fatal image of the Chinese males & females threatening the West & the males, and in the aspect of the play further otherizing China with the duplicated orientalism as ‘M. Butterfly’ is accepted into the other cultural bloc. In this respect, the attempt of the narration of ‘M. Butterfly at dismantling the orientalism has the limitation, and cannot help but still remain the issue in the lack of genuinely understanding the East and the attempt at further otherizing others.