고통과 유희의 저항― 왕샤오보 『황금시대』, 『혁명시대의 연애』 읽기

Abstract

“A Golden Era” and “Love in Revolutionary Times” are the most representative of Wang Xiaobo's stories set in the Cultural Revolution period. The protagonists of both stories are Wang Er, or “Wang the Second,” who are thought to be the persona of the writer himself. Wang Xiaobo's Cultural Revolution narratives transcend the perspective on the revolution as a particular historical experience, and reflect on the institutionalized dictatorship and violence, and further on the depth of desire hidden in the humanity. Wang's stories are also a process of healing his own wounds, and of existential searches through which his existence is confirmed. His stories depart from the usual pattern of combining politics and morality in earlier Cultural Revolution narratives. The main reason why Wang Xiaobo could separate the perpetrators of political vice and their victims from the discourse of the good and the evil in morality is that Wang's concerns consist in the humanity itself, and not in determining the right and wrong in politics and morality. Wang's stories do not stop at revealing the violence of political power, which was the main concern in scar literature and reflection literature. Wang sneaks in through the cracks in the power and ridicules the ridiculous times using the ridiculous logic of the powerful. Most notably, Wang Xiaobo's obedience to violent power renders the power into something absurdly laughable. Important in this context is the power of imagination. The power of imagination can be accomplished in private spaces, and that can bring the action into a liberated space free from any moral or political limits. The revolutionary times, in which public discipline is valued and private feelings are banned, become the source of nutrition that nurtures the power of imagination precisely because of the ban. The imagination in Wang Xiaobo's stories gives the power with which any violence can be endured. At the same time, it has the power that can negate the existence of reality. The sexuality exposed throughout Wang's works is also not just a tool for fighting against political power, but more importantly the point of departure for a journey of searching for his own existence.