루야오(路遙) 소설 『인생(人生)』에 드리워진 도시-농촌 경계의 흔적들 = The Traces of the Urban-Rural Boundary in Lu Yao's Novel <The Life (人生)>

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

The works of Lu Yao, a contemporary Chinese writer, are widely known as popular novels that continue to resonate deeply with Chinese youth but have not received sufficient scholarly attention in the context of literary history. Among these works, <The Life> is evaluated as a work that profoundly depicts the psychological conflicts of young rural intellectuals caught between urban and rural areas in early China’s reform and opening-up period. This novel meticulously portrays the psychological struggles of Chinese rural intellectuals as they navigated significant social challenges in the early 1980s, a transformative period in China’s history. By analyzing Lu Yao’s <The Life>, this study attempts to conceptualize the border between urban and rural spaces in a more abstract and sophisticated way, beyond the physical dichotomy of the two areas. Through reconstructing the various boundaries within Chinese society, this study attempts to illuminate the complex aspects of social change and its impact on individuals. To reflect the complexity of these boundaries, this study selected five core terms: ‘Market,’ ‘Labor,’ ‘Hygiene,’ ‘Back door,’ and ‘Romance.’ Specifically, it analyzed the practices of the subjects who navigate and cross these boundaries. Each term illuminates the conflict with boundaries that the protagonist encounters in the narrative from various perspectives and ultimately symbolizes the process through which the protagonist fails to assimilate into urban life. Particular attention was given to the meaningful exploration of the middle ground where exclusion and inclusion occur simultaneously, and boundaries gradually become flexible. This study attempted to analyze the meaning of the practices in which individuals and groups are aware of boundaries and autonomously regulate and redefine them during the transition to China’s market economic system—beyond the material or institutional obstacles faced by rural intellectuals in adapting to urban society. Through its analysis of the meaning of boundaries, this study emphasizes that <The Life> not only reflects the internal contradictions and conflicts experienced by young rural intellectuals during a period of transformation but also holds value as a text that encapsulates the broader structural contradictions inherent in China's dual social structure (城乡二元结构).