王安憶의 ≪長恨歌≫ 연구 ― 상하이의 일상과 역사

Abstract

Wang Anyi’s Song of Eternal Sorrow is the life story of Wang Qiyao, a Miss Shanghai, from 1945 to 1986. The author not only describes the space in which the working class manage their lives but also demonstrates her capability of immersing the memories of everyday life into the literary field. The public’s remaining memories of the nation and the mainstream literature’s exclusion of the forgotten cultural richness due to urbanization convey the author’s purpose of creation. For Wang Anyi, the history of Shanghai is an amalgamation of the individual. Thus, generality in the narrative is replaced by features of everyday life. The author gives physical dimension and extends the narrative from the temporal aspect to the spatial aspect. Common works in Chinese modern literature are epic narratives of a heroic protagonist in historic, political and social context. Consequently, Song of Eternal Sorrow challenges the common literary trend. The author resurrects the culture, tradition and experience of Shanghai through depictions of the streets and lovers but not the state, nation or history. This work is not only an everyday life story but once forgotten days of Shanghai. Wang Anyi thinks that mundane aspects in ordinary people's lives have a sense of eternality, which cannot be changed by history or modernization. Accordingly, she uses recollection to describe Shanghai. Moreover Wang Qiyao, who encompasses elegance and ordinariness in the secular world, sophistication in everyday life and yet old-fashioned thinking, faces an inevitable tragedy due to the events of the era, which in turn reveals the ultimate nihility of man.