Women as reflection of modern life

Notes:
Women writers (Xi Xi, Tie Ning, Chen Ran, Wang Anyi) and the
gender issues they write about.
• Xi Xi
◦ Women as reflection of modern life
◦ Courage to confront death
▪ Main character works as a make-up artist for dead
people
• Tie Ning
◦ Social pressure that women have to face
• Chen Ran
◦ Freedom of love (homosexuality)
◦ Gender consciousness
◦ inner/private female experience
• Wang Anyi
◦ Women life in Shanghai city (The Song of Everlasting Sorrow)
The inner connection between Lu Xun, Yan Lianke, Yu Hua and Mo
Yan.
• Lu Xun: Is there any hope in the future?
◦ Main characters/narrator
▪ First person
▪ Ah Q
▪ Has many shortcomings
▪ Society seems to be hopeless => revolution
▪ People just wanted to get benefits
▪ Wife
▪ Villagers are very cold
▪ Sense of hopelessness
▪ Madman’s diary
▪ Save the children
◦ Themes
◦ Symbols/Images
▪ Iron house
▪ Lonely person walking looking for hope
▪ Dark society
▪ Hope lies in children and future
◦ Background
▪ There is something meaningful about writing
▪ Overturn the qing dynasty = change in his view point
▪ Cultural Revolution
• Yan Lianke
◦ Dead young boy as narrator
◦ “Loner” = grandpa
▪ Child is dead
▪ Hope lies in the traditional and rural customs (might resist
the capitalist development)
• Yu Hua
◦ Song collector = long history
◦ History is progressive?
▪ History is a cycle/repetitive
◦ Everyday life = no progress at all
◦ People desire similar things
▪ Try very hard to survive and take care people they love
▪ Try hard to redeem themselves when they do something
wrong
▪ People live their own life
◦ Social: better than the past
◦ Individual: no change
▪ People still have to struggle to survive, to live,…
▪ Tomorrow you still have more struggles to overcome
• Mo Yan
◦ Eating babies
◦ commercialization