‘운명’과 이에 대면한 위화의 인물들 ― 위화(余華) 소설의 변화 과정에 관한 일 고찰

Abstract

Yu Hua(余華) is one of the most famous writers in Contemporary China. Since 1987, he has written a number of distinguished novels. His early works written in 1980s are puzzling, fuzzy and unreal, and so are called as the avant-garde novel(先鋒小說). Unlike the early works, Yu Hua’s novels written in 1990s contains mostly real and touching stories. This change in Yu Hua’s works through different time periods has been discussed in this paper. As one of the key words in his novel, “the Destiny” has been analyzed. In Yu Hua’s works, most of the characters are thrown into miserable and unhappy situations, and some of them even face death. These infelicities are often conceived as “the Destiny” in many Asian countries including China, and Yu Hua, in his early works in 1980s, seems to share the same view about the concept of “the Destiny.” In Yu Hua's early novels, most characters are weak, flabby, self-defeated in their fatal struggles. However, in his later works in 1990s, Yu Hua demonstrates some level of change in his perception of “the Destiny” through his characters. Specifically, Fugui(福貴) and Xu Sanguan(許三觀), characters shown in his works in the 90’s, start to overcome their struggles and begin to cope with their destinies by acquiring the power for their survivals. This change observed in the character seems plausible in that the writer’s view toward life might have transformed into a more active and positive direction from the previous passive and negative one. This transition, however, appears that it has not been accompanied with his writing maturity and deep insight toward the life because the two main characters in “Brotherhood,” one of his recent works, has brought many readers and critics much disappointment.