『一江春水向東流』의 여성 서사와 시적 토포스

Abstract

By re-reading The Spring River Flows East(1948), a film made during the Chinese Civil War, this paper deals with the cultural significance of poetry in Chinese nation-building and also examines the ways in which the poetic topos altered the field of cinematic narrative. Looking at how the narrative of women’s suffering during the Civil War fulfills a political agenda is a key to understanding the problems concerning female images in the history of Chinese film. This paper shows that the modes of consumption of traditional art forms, which had been familiar to the Chinese for a long time, were adopted in films at a time when Chinese films attracted and were enjoyed by large audiences. This paper also demonstrates that this highly political film attracted its audience by adapting a story that would divide the contemporary political terrain. By understanding the easy transformation of the narrative of ‘family’ into the discourse of ‘nation’ in Chinese films, the paper opens a window to comprehend how the traditional culture is re-adopted in modern Chinese films. In sum, through an analysis of The Spring River Flows East, this paper shows that the cinematic art re-invents the traditional narrative techniques in the modern medium of film to give expression to Chinese national feelings that had been formed through along history.