Abstract
China’s political, social and cultural environment during the 1920s and 1930s shaped the ‘new woman’ notion, which was a crucial dynamic of female liberation during the May Fourth era. In Lu Yin’s novel The Heart of Women (Nüren de xin 女人的心), the image of new woman is secondary to the cause of China’s modernisation in a male-dominated May Fourth discourse. This essay will explore this position from three perspectives. The construction of the new woman during the May Fourth era characterises the first point. The second is male-dominated discourse of modern identity and new woman in the May Fourth literature. Male lead in The Heart of Women is the third aspect.
Highlights
China‟s political, social and cultural environment during the 1920s and 1930s shaped the „new woman‟ notion, which was a crucial dynamic of female liberation during the May Fourth era
In recent research on new woman concept in Republican China, more attention has been paid to aesthetics of female body and femininity
Francesca Lawson (2014) discusses metaphysical femininity and feminine voice within the paradigm of new woman while Jun Lei (2015) investigates the degree to which the aesthetics of the female body changed in Republican China and how this change shaped the construction of the new woman concept
Summary
China‟s political, social and cultural environment during the 1920s and 1930s shaped the „new woman‟ notion, which was a crucial dynamic of female liberation during the May Fourth era. Francesca Lawson (2014) discusses metaphysical femininity and feminine voice within the paradigm of new woman while Jun Lei (2015) investigates the degree to which the aesthetics of the female body changed in Republican China and how this change shaped the construction of the new woman concept. Lu Yin‟s novel The Heart of Women (Nüren de xin 女人的心) does not provide examples of actual emancipated Chinese modern women; instead, the female character in this story is secondary to the cause of China‟s modernisation in a male-dominated May Fourth discourse. In this sense, a new male within a woman‟s body is being portrayed in this text, rather than a new woman. The Heart of Women’s male lead characterises the third point
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