Dehumanized Voices and Traumatic Articulations in Late Nineteenth-Century Chinese Classical Tales

Abstract

This study leverages trauma theory to examine Xuan Ding's 宣鼎 (1832–1880) Yeyu qiudeng lu 夜雨秋燈錄 (Recorded on Rainy Nights by Autumn Lamp), a collection of classical tales published in the aftermath of the Taiping Civil War (1850–1864). The analysis here delves into the concept of dehumanization, typically understood as the denial of one's intrinsic human traits by other people. In the late Qing context, dehumanization can occur when an individual is perceived as deviating from the path of self-cultivation, or as inept at or resistant to fulfilling prescribed social and gender roles, often leading to social ostracism. Xuan Ding conveys both the acute trauma of the Taiping war and the quotidian, gender- and class-based traumas imposed by late Qing society through the dramatic depiction of characters who undergo a metamorphosis into subhuman forms. This study also shows that in his preface to the collection, Xuan engages in the artistic dehumanization of his own literary persona. From this strategic position of moral self-exile, he is able to both provide a platform for dissenting voices and suggest the therapeutic potential of writing during times of suffering. This study explores how one writer's depiction of the trauma of dehumanization navigates and illuminates the nuanced boundary between the human and the nonhuman as understood at this time. By investigating the complex interplay of dehumanization and trauma, and their manifestation in literature, this study invites consideration of culturally specific nuances within trauma theory and opens up avenues for comparative analysis.