似醒非醒: 老舍小说中的“民族觉醒” = The paradox of "National Awakening" in Lao She's fiction

Abstract

This dissertation argues that Lao Shea??s novels portray the concept of a??national awakeninga?? in paradoxical terms: as early as the nineteenth century, while a??national awakeninga?? can be understood as an essential notion in national salvation, the process of realizing the goals of a??national awakeninga?? resulted in social chaos and even oppression of the Chinese by the Chinese themselves. The sharp observations and skeptical viewpoints of the third-person narrators and the objectifying experience of female characters in some of Lao Shea??s novels are discussed in relation to the concept of a??national awakeninga??. These narrators and female characters do not think the nation can be emancipated through a??national awakeninga??. This thought is further justified when the supposedly a??awakeneda?? characters further reinforce the oppressive patriarchal system on these female characters instead of liberating them under the notion of a??national awakeninga??. Hence, Lao Shea??s ambivalent portrayal of a??national awakeninga?? makes us question its effectiveness as a means of national salvation.