Masculinity in Yu Hua's Fiction from Modernism to Postmodernism
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Masculinity in Yu Hua’s Fiction from Modernism to Postmodernism By: Qing Ye East Asian Studies Department McGill University Montreal, QC. Canada Submission Date: 07/2009 A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research in partial fulfillment of the requirement of the degree of Master of Arts Unpublished work © 2009 Qing Ye I Library and Archives Bibliothèque et Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de l’édition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A 0N4 Ottawa ON K1A 0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre référence ISBN: 978-0-494-61657-4 Our file Notre référence ISBN: 978-0-494-61657-4 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non- L’auteur a accordé une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library and permettant à la Bibliothèque et Archives Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par télécommunication ou par l’Internet, prêter, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des thèses partout dans le loan, distribute and sell theses monde, à des fins commerciales ou autres, sur worldwide, for commercial or non- support microforme, papier, électronique et/ou commercial purposes, in microform, autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. 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Abstract The Tiananmen Incident in 1989 triggered the process during which Chinese society evolved from so-called ―high modernism‖ to vague ―postmodernism‖. The purpose of this thesis is to examine and evaluate the gender representation in Chinese male intellectuals‘ writing when they face the aforementioned social evolution. The exemplary writer from the band of Chinese male intellectuals I have chosen is Yu Hua, one of the most important and successful novelists in China today. Coincidently, his writing career, spanning from the mid-1980s until present, parallels the Chinese intellectuals‘ pursuit of modernism and their acceptance of postmodernism. In my thesis, I re-visit four of his works in different eras, including One Kind of Reality (1988), Classical Love (1988), To Live (1992), and Brothers (2005), to explore the social, psychological, and aesthetical elements that formulate/reformulate male identity, male power and male/female relation in his fictional world. Inspired by those fictional male characters who are violent, anxious or even effeminized in his novels, one can perceive male intellectuals‘ complex feelings towards current Chinese society and culture. It is believed that this study will contribute to the literary and cultural investigation of the third-world intellectuals. II Résumé Les événements de la Place Tiananmen en 1989 a déclenché le processus durant lequel la société chinoise a évolué d‘un soi-disant "haut modernisme" vers un vague "post-modernisme". Le but de cette thèse est d'examiner et d‘évaluer la représentation des sexes dans l'écriture des intellectuels chinois mâles quand ils font face à l'évolution sociale mentionnée ci-dessus. L'auteur qui exemplifie bien le groupe d'intellectuels masculins chinois que j'ai choisi est Yu Hua, un des romanciers les plus importants et prolifiques de la Chine d‘aujourd'hui. Bonne coïncidence, sa carrière d'écrivain qui couvre la période commençant au milieu des années 1980 jusqu'à maintenant, trace des parallèles entre la poursuite du modernisme des intellectuels chinois et leur acceptation de post-modernisme. Dans ma thèse, je revisite quatre de ses travaux dans des périodes différentes, y compris One Kind of Reality (1988), Classical Love (1988), To Live (1992) et Brothers (2005). Le but est d‘explorer l‘aspect social, les éléments psychologiques et esthétiques qui formulent/reformulent l'identité masculine, le pouvoir masculin et la relation homme/femme dans son monde fictif. Inspiré par ces personnages masculins fictifs qui sont violents, anxieux ou même effeminés dans ses romans, on peut percevoir les sentiments complexes des intellectuels masculins envers la société et la culture chinoise actuelle. Je crois que cette étude contribuera à l'enquête sur la littérature et la culture des intellectuels des pays du Tiers-Monde. III ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Completing a thesis requires individual dedication and tireless support from colleagues, friends and family. I own my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Professor Peter Button for guiding my research and helping me complete this thesis. His illuminating advices considerably stimulated my study and his great support was indispensable for me. Also, I wish to thank some professors at McGill University, Professor Eugenio Bolongaro in the Department of Italian Studies and Professor Berkeley Kaite in the Department of English. They gave me valuable advices on the topic of this thesis. And a special thanks to Professor Grace Fong and Professor Kenneth Dean in the Department of East Asian Studies. Even though they did not contribute to this research directly, they have all enriched my knowledge and appreciation for research and scholarship. Among my colleagues in the Department of East Asian Studies, McGill University, I would like to thank Sara Neswald, Lin Fan and Wang Wanming, who offered warm-hearted help to me all along. In addition, another person to be thanked is Franck Bélanger who translated my thesis abstract into French. Finally and always, I am grateful to my parents and husband, Meng Zhiyong. Their encouragement, support and love offer me the power to pursue accomplishment. IV Table of Contents ABSTRACT .......................................................................................................... II RÉSUMÉ ............................................................................................................. III ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .................................................................................. IV TABLE OF CONTENTS ...................................................................................... V CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION .................................................................. 1 1.1 General introduction ....................................................................................... 1 1.2 Chinese masculinity and writing .................................................................... 4 1.3 Chinese modernism and postmodernism ....................................................... 8 1.4 Thesis overview .............................................................................................. 10 1.5 Biographical introduction to Yu Hua ........................................................... 12 CHAPTER TWO PATRIARCHY AND CHINESE MODERNISM .............. 19 2.1 Chinese literature and culture in the 1980s ................................................. 19 2.2 Women as commodities ................................................................................. 23 2.3 Masculine power ............................................................................................ 28 2.4 Women as victims of violence ........................................................................ 32 2.5 The success of phallus .................................................................................... 38 CHAPTER THREE MASCULINE CRISIS AND HISTORICAL TRAUMA43 3.1 Chinese literature in the aftermath of the Tiananmen Incident ................ 43 3.2 Male subject and historical trauma.............................................................. 48 3.3 Father and son ................................................................................................ 54 3.4 Women’s power .............................................................................................. 58 V CHAPTER FOUR MASCULINITY, COMMODITY AND CHINESE POSTMODERNISM ........................................................................................... 65 4.1 New media and contemporary Chinese literature ...................................... 66 4.2 Present and past ............................................................................................. 72 4.3 Two types of male ideals ................................................................................ 77 4.4 The fragile scholar ......................................................................................... 80 4.5 Women and commodities .............................................................................. 86 CHAPTER FIVE CONCLUSION ................................................................... 90 BIBLIOGRAPHY: ............................................................................................... 99 VI Chapter One Introduction 1.1 General