위화의 소설을 통해서 바라본 중국사회의 진통 ―중국사회를 관통한 《형제》와 《제7일》에 대한 논쟁을 중심으로

Abstract

This paper examined the implications of controversies and debates over “Brothers” and “The Seventh Day” by Yu Hua. Both have caused a stir in the Chinese society immediately after publication in the 2000s. The novels shared one striking aspect in common: they deal with “contemporaneity,” the Chinese society of those days. Through these works, the author discusses the ills of the contemporary Chinese society. In both novels, readers face a society driven by capital, one where money breeds power, and the subsequent absurd and maddening events. They were also faced with the dark side of a society where even the dignity of a person is determined by money under the market economy system. It was enough to cause “psychological pain” for many Chinese readers who encountered the works, unsurprisingly leading to the controversies and debates. These novels caused a great “ideological conflict” to many older generations who have lived a life of subduing their voices and conforming to government policies through their criticism of China’s “social ills.” It can thus be considered that those points became the major cause of the controversy and debates surrounding these two novels.