1920-30년대 중⋅일 여성 문학에 나타나는 근대적 경험으로서의 ‘카페’ 공간 연구 — 트랜스 동아시아적 시각을 바탕으로

Abstract

This paper explores the unique cultural landscape of cafés in the modern urban settings of China and Japan during the 1920s–30s. It aims to reveal the signs of modernity in the literary works of this period through a trans-East Asian perspective. In both countries, cafés became integral to the urban experience, reflecting each city’s engagement with international influences and consumer culture. In Shanghai, cafés emerged as new cultural spaces, offering experiences of modernity and urban life that were previously unavailable in traditional Chinese cities. These cafés symbolized the blending of foreign and Chinese elements, reflecting the hybrid urban culture of Shanghai. Conversely, in Japan, café culture developed alongside the positive reception of modernity, where capitalist urbanization led to the proliferation of cafés as spaces for entertainment and leisure. Beyond their roles as hybrid urban spaces, cafés also became important sites for reconstructing female subjectivity. In Shanghai, cafés functioned as social hubs for diverse groups of people, offering a modern atmosphere shaped by European cultural influences. The physical transformation of the concession areas, combined with intrinsic elements of Chinese culture and the consumption habits of Shanghai residents, allowed cafés to expand into public spaces for the city’s urban population. In China, female writers such as Lin Huiyin played leading roles in the literary scene. She was a regular at Shanghai’s Café Renaissance and the Xin Ya Tea House, and she led her own literary salon, which served as a bridge for writers entering the literary field. Lin Huiyin’s experiences are well reflected in her work Hua Ting Fu Ren. Meanwhile, in 1920s Japan, the rapid expansion of capitalism following the Great Kanto Earthquake fueled the growth of entertainment-driven urban consumerism, making jobs like waitressing a common feature of the city’s daily landscape. Japanese female writer Fumiko Hayashi, in her Horoki, depicted the increasing presence of waitresses and the lives of women in the lower strata of urban society during this period. A comparison of these two authors reveals that while Shanghai cafés were spaces where women led cultural production and were recognized as cultural agents, Tokyo’s cafés emerged as spaces where women’s bodies became both aware of and experienced modernity.