마오둔(茅盾)의 소설≪子夜≫와 상하이의 近代的 再編

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to examine various aspects of the modern city of Shanghai through Mao Dun's masterpiece,≪子夜 ZiYe≫. The story of the struggle between the capitalist class, the clash between the capitalist class and the working class, the direct and indirect clash between the middle class and the lower class, the efforts and frustrations of migrants to successfully integrate into urban society, the leisurely life of the upper class, the hardships of the lower class, and the identity-less life of the lumpen intellectuals who drift precariously between the two classes, are all presented in a way that is appropriate to China's chaotic social scene, giving the reader a sense of early 20th century Shanghai. The possibilities for these different readings stem primarily from the spatial diversity of the city of Shanghai, which the work captures. The specific reasons why people with different living conditions and diverse experiences are forced to occupy a part of Shanghai's urban space and live urban life will vary from person to person, and the task of identifying them will be virtually impossible. This article is just one aspect of that impossibility, an attempt to sketch a rough outline. To this end, this paper examines the reorganization of time, space, and daily life depicted in the novel. The novel features a number of new technologies such as trams, cars, boats, roads, and telephones, which not only symbolize changes in the material environment, but also, more fundamentally, changes in the idea of time. In other words, they are devices that maximize the efficient use of time, the quantification of time and the utilization of quantified time, which is a key element of industrialization. The modern reorganization of space can also be seen through the arrangement of houses and factories. The residences of the lower class are mainly located around the factory area, while the upper class is separated from the outside world by high walls and iron gates. In other words, people's lives are different depending on the spatial arrangement and compartmentalization, and the spatial arrangement and compartmentalization is one of the reasons for creating different life patterns. Their daily lives, which are divided in space and time, are also bound to be different. Whether urbanites are conscious of it or not, the force that has forced them to reorganize their daily lives must have come from the capitalist system of production and profit, and in the process, they have lost their pre-modern character.