Please wait a minute...
Frontiers of Literary Studies in China

ISSN 1673-7318

ISSN 1673-7423(Online)

CN 11-5745/I

Postal Subscription Code 80-982

Front. Lit. Stud. China    2019, Vol. 13 Issue (4) : 584-629    https://doi.org/10.3868/s010-008-019-0030-6
RESEARCH ARTICLE
The Shaping of Lu Xun’s Public Image and His Portrait Images
HONG Seuk-pyo()
Department of Chinese Language and Literature, Ewha Womans University, Seoul 03760, South Korea
 Download: PDF(1949 KB)  
 Export: BibTeX | EndNote | Reference Manager | ProCite | RefWorks
Abstract

After Lu Xun published “A Madman’s Diary” (Kuangren riji) and “The True Story of Ah Q” (A Q zhengzhuan), through the active introduction by modern Korean mass media, Lu Xun enjoyed the highest popularity of all modern Chinese literary author in Korea Peninsula. “A Madman’s Diary” translated by Ryu Sooin, was published in the magazine Donggwang (The oriental light) in 1927. Yang Baekhwa’s translation of “The True Story of Ah Q” was serialized in The Chosun Ilbo (The Korea daily) in 1930. “Lu Xun and His Works” by Jeong Raedong, who conduct systematic criticism on Lu Xun’s literature, was published in The Korea Daily in 1931. Lu Xun was thus differentiated from the so-called “Zhou Brothers” and claimed a place of his own as a representative Chinese writer. After that, Lu Xun’s various works were translated into Korean, and he was acknowledged as “a Chinese literary master” and “a world-class writer” in the Korean literary world. Lu Xun’s literature was hence widely acknowledged. Lee Kwangsoo even created another character called “Park Seondal” based on the motif of “Ah Q.” With the development of mass media, people were eager to see Lu Xun’s personal image. In the 1930s, major Korean media, such as The Shin Dong-a (The new East Asia), The Dong-a Ilbo (The East Asia daily), The Chosun Ilbo (The Korea daily), The Maeil Sinbo (The daily report), Chokwang (The morning light) and Samcheonli (Three thousand miles), successively published Lu Xun’s portraits and photos, helping visualize Lu Xun’s image and making great contributions to shaping the public image of Lu Xun and his literature. Through these major media in Korea, Lu Xun’s works and his reputation became widely known, and his portrait images were also circulated. In February 1938, the Hwarang Garden Troupe staged the play The True Story of Ah Q. Considering the commercial nature of the theatre at that time, the public performance of The True Story of Ah Q indicates that Lu Xun and his works had achieved a solid foothold in the public mind. However, Korean people’s access to Lu Xun’s literature was blocked after March 1938, when Japanese imperialists imposed a blanket ideological clampdown. With the advent of liberation on August 15, 1945, the modern Korean public strongly needed Lu Xun’s life experience and literary spirit as enlightenment. Hence, translation and research of Lu Xun’s literary works became active again. In particular, in 1946, after the publication of The Collected Short Stories of Lu Xun (Volumes 1-2), jointly translated by Kim Kwangju and Lee Yongkyu, which included Lu Xun’s major works, Korean people were able to gain a more systematic access to Lu Xun’s literature. The inspirational value of Lu Xun’s literature was re-ignited after Korea’s liberation and independence. Lu Xun was thus once again praised as “a literary giant” and “a great writer.”

Keywords Lu Xun      modern Korea      public image      portrait image      Korean      translations of Lu Xun’s works     
Issue Date: 12 March 2020
 Cite this article:   
HONG Seuk-pyo. The Shaping of Lu Xun’s Public Image and His Portrait Images[J]. Front. Lit. Stud. China, 2019, 13(4): 584-629.
 URL:  
https://academic.hep.com.cn/flsc/EN/10.3868/s010-008-019-0030-6
https://academic.hep.com.cn/flsc/EN/Y2019/V13/I4/584
[1] JI Jianqing. In Search of “Voices”: Linguistic Choice and Construction of Subjectivity in Lu Xun’s Early Translations and Writings[J]. Front. Lit. Stud. China, 2020, 14(4): 605-639.
[2] LI Jikai, SUN Xu. On Lu Xun’s “Memes”—Taking the Example of the Tie between Lu Xun and Shaanxi[J]. Front. Lit. Stud. China, 2020, 14(1): 134-156.
[3] Satoru Hashimoto. Science, History, Fiction: The Facetious Mediality of Lu Xun’s Old Stories Retold[J]. Front. Lit. Stud. China, 2019, 13(3): 385-404.
[4] Jon Eugene von Kowallis. Understanding Wild Grass by Talking to Oneself: Lu Xun’s Yecao through the Lens of Ziyan Ziyu and the Prism of the Past[J]. Front. Lit. Stud. China, 2019, 13(2): 171-199.
[5] Jon Eugene von Kowallis. Re-Contextualizing Lu Xun’s Early Thought and Poetics in the Journal Henan [J]. Front. Lit. Stud. China, 2018, 12(3): 388-423.
[6] Jerry D. Schmidt. Li Ruqian, the Lu Xun of the Nineteenth Century[J]. Front. Lit. Stud. China, 2018, 12(2): 217-253.
[7] G. Andrew Stuckey. Female Relations: Voiceless Women in “Liuyi jie” and “Zhufu”[J]. Front. Lit. Stud. China, 2017, 11(3): 488-509.
[8] Qin WANG. How Not to Have Nostalgia for the Future: A Reading of Lu Xun’s “Hometown”[J]. Front. Lit. Stud. China, 2016, 10(3): 461-473.
[9] Clint Capehart. The Animal Kingdom in the Legacy of Modern Chinese Literature: Lu Xun’s Writings on Animals and Bio-Politics in the Republican Era[J]. Front. Lit. Stud. China, 2016, 10(3): 430-460.
[10] WU Jun. A Study on the Basic Theory of Lu Xun’s Literary Translation: “Everything Is an Intermediate Object”[J]. Front. Lit. Stud. China, 2016, 10(3): 408-429.
[11] Chiu-yee Cheung. Who Invited Lu Xun to Hong Kong?: An Examination of Two Accounts and Some New Materials[J]. Front. Lit. Stud. China, 2016, 10(3): 392-407.
[12] Jon Eugene von Kowallis. Collisions of the Past with the Present: Translation, Texts, and History[J]. Front. Lit. Stud. China, 2015, 9(4): 581-615.
[13] Shakhar Rahav. Blade of Remembrance: Memory, Objects, and Redemption in Lu Xun[J]. Front. Lit. Stud. China, 2015, 9(3): 453-477.
[14] Marián GáLIK. Archer Hou Yi According to Julius Zeyer (1841–1901) and Lu Xun (1881–1936): Changing Perceptions of Ancient Myths in Modern Literature[J]. Front. Lit. Stud. China, 2014, 8(3): 359-373.
[15] Xudong ZHANG. “The Becoming Self-Conscious of Zawen”: Literary Modernity and Politics of Language in Lu Xun’s Essay Production during His Transitional Period[J]. Front. Lit. Stud. China, 2014, 8(3): 374-409.
Viewed
Full text


Abstract

Cited

  Shared   
  Discussed