There were a lot of similarities in the background and the expansion process of literaturebetween Korea and China in 1930s. Both Korean and Chinese People began to experience the modern city life under the influence of capitalist development in 1930s,...
There were a lot of similarities in the background and the expansion process of literaturebetween Korea and China in 1930s. Both Korean and Chinese People began to experience the modern city life under the influence of capitalist development in 1930s, and the practical experience provided many opportunities for the urban literature.
In recent years, more and more writers are working on the comparative study of Korean and Chinese literature, but there are scarcely any researches on the comparison of Korean and Chinese urban novels, which accounts for an important position in Korean and Chinese literary history. This thesis principally makes a comparative study of the urban novels of two countries in 1930s and carries on a comparative analysis of works written by Gu-in-hoi and Chinese Modernist School which are considered as the representative writers’ organizations in Korean and China for the modern urban novels. The analysis is focused on the urban space and urban characters. The urban novels of two countries show some similarities, but more difference relating to the background.
Although both of Seoul and Shanghai were colonized and urbanization accelerated with the invasion of capitalism, there still was a gap of development between Seoul and Shanghai at that time.The urbanization of Seoul was beginning to take a shape, but many Koreanpeople still had no job and lived in slums, while Shanghai had begun to take the urban scale before becoming a concession, and developed to an international metropolis which was known as Oriental Paris after being invaded, and people in Shanghai enjoyed the luxurious life.
Against thisbackground, the cities in the Korean writers’ works are desolate, poverty and insecurity, while the cities described by Chinese writers are prosperous, luxurious and alluring, but also polarized.The male characters created by Korean writers are mostly unemployed intellectuals who spend the day hanging round the cities, even sojourn with women and lose their dominant position with a sense a deep sorrow and depressing loss. But the male characters in Chinese writers’ works are mostly intellectuals who still feel depressed and empty because they cannot find the meaning of life even though they live a luxurious city life wantonly.
Both Korean writers and Chinese writers divide the female characters into two types, the traditional women and the new women. At that time, there were still many traditional women on whose mind feudal ideas were stamped. But with the invasion of the capitalism, a number of open-mind and avant-garde girls went up on the stage. The new women characters are mostly described as dancers and prostitutes by Korean writers.Years of hard life warp their disposition and they are subjected to conceptual criticism, while the female characters in Chinese writers’ works are modern upper-class women who are freethinking and very open. They enjoy their luxurious life bymoving in high-level entertainment places, wearing designer clothes, driving limousine and drinking wine.
The difference analyzed above is related to the historical background of two countries, the writers’ consciousness, and the living environment. Korean writers concentrate on the uneven development of cities and argue that poverty makes city people degenerate while the Chinese writers try to describe that the development of the modern city causesthe expanse of spirit.