경미(京味) 문학 속의 베이징 도시문화 ― 라오서와 왕쑤오를 중심으로

Abstract

This paper examines the undertones of 20th century urban Beijing culture and its aspects of change through Lao She, who is recognized as the source of Jingwei Literature, and xin-Jingwei writer Wang Shuo. The work of exploring the issue of the city and individual’s identity through Wang Shuo prior to the establishment of new China and Lao She of the 1940s is not only the work of investigating the changes of major living spaces in the city but also the work of studying the aspects of Beijing transforming from an imperial city to the capital of socialism. Lao She subtly portrayed numerous conservative, backward, and old citizens through hutongs and siheyuans. He viewed the folk culture of Beijing through a gaze of objective insight and criticism, not just praise and longing. On the other hand, the memories and visions of Beijing by Wang Shuo focus wholly on the culture of dayuan and socialist revolution. Dayuans are the representamen and, at the same time, source behind revolutionary culture. Th mainstream of Beijing culture from the 1950s to the present was dayuan culture. With 1949 as the boundary, the culture of Beijing transitioned from siheyuan and hutong culture to a dayuan culture centered on the culture of socialist revolution, with its influence powerfully felt even today.