중국연구를 위한 인류학적 패러다임 시론 - 문화접점론과 국가-사회의 관계를 중심으로

A New Paradigm for Anthropological Study of China: Cultural Nexus in State-Society Relations

&nbsp;&nbsp;현대중국의 이해를 위하여 지역사회의 문화체계와 문화적 자원이 국가와 사회에 의하여 어떤 정치적 자원으로 사용되는가를 볼 필요가 있다. 사회주의 혁명이 내세운 현대화 작업은 전통적인 사회제도와 문화요소들을 부정하는 담론과 캠페인으로 진행되었다. 그러나 모택동 사후에 국가자본주의의 도입이 가져온 변화는 전통적인 사회영역이 재생산되고 국가와 긴장과 갈등을 노골화한다. 이는 인민의 전통과 공간의 비합리성이나 보수성 그리고 반혁명성의 증거가 아니라 인민이 국가와 경쟁과 타협을 하는 것이며 전략적으로 문화를 선택하는 것이다. 따라서 국가가 주도하는 현대성과 인민이 경험하고 해석하는 현대 성 사이의 괴리와 충돌의 역동성 속에서 현대중국의 현실을 해석해야 할 것이다.<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;이를 위하여 가족, 종족, 시장, 신앙과 의례와 같은 전통적인 사회-문화 영역에 대한 분석이 필요하다. 가족과 국가의 관계 시장체계와 지역사회 간의 구조, 국가에 의하여 규정되는 공간과 유동인구에 의하여 형성되는 유동공간의 갈등, 중앙정부와 지방정부 그리고 인민이 민간 신앙과 의례를 둘러싸고 벌이는 경쟁과 타협, 성과 몽에 대한 국가의 현대성과 인민의 경험 사이의 괴리 등으로부터 현대 중국의 정치 경제, 사회의 다양한 역동의 양상을 분석하고 해석하는 패러다임을 구할 수 있을 것이다.

&nbsp;&nbsp;The “state-society relations” paradigm has been the most popular methodological tool in the studies of contemporary China since late 1980s. While the “statists” emphasize the overwhelming power of the party-state that penetrates into and dominates over the social realm, the “societists” propose to acknowledge the initiatives of social forces against the official authority in making of social and economic transformation in the post-Mao era. Both presume the state and society to be independent entities and thus the two to be in the zero-sum game relation. The model of “state-society relations”, however, is based on the idea that the state and society are not mutually exclusive but constructed, defined, and transformed in the interactive relations.<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;Under the theoretical model of “state-society relations”, however, most studies have focused on dynamics of conflict and resistance in social transformational processes, mainly in urban sector and political field using broad concept of the state and society. Reviewing some selected studies, the present paper attempts to develop a new paradigm in the field of anthropological studies of contemporary China by focusing on the cultural sphere. Socio-cultural genres like family, lineage, market structure, religions and rituals, body and sexuality etc. that have conventionally been the sub-fields of anthropological study are re-examined as the main spaces where the state and society overlap and compete with each other.<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;Reconsidering these genres in the post-modem context of contemporary China is necessary because the basic social and cultural structure of China has not radically changed despite various programs of socialist revolution as initiated by the state during the past fifty years. Since the socialist regime has implemented hukou system, danwei system, and residence registration system, and emphasized the traditional family ethics and communal ideology, people&quot;s social and geographical mobility have been strictly controlled. As an unintended consequence, people have remained in their original local communities and maintained their basic traditional institutions.<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;Along with the rapid development of market economy and expansion of party-state authority during the post-Mao era, these traditional forms of social and cultural institutions are revitalized as spaces where tension and conflict between the state power and social tradition are intensified and become more violently visible. In this context, it is proposed that various cultural genres should be studied from the perspective of politics of culture because they serve as nexus of power where people negotiate and redefine the power relations with the state and practice their memories of historical experiences in coping with the state modernity. In a sense, the state-culture relations is a more apt conceptual perspective to understand how people reconstruct and reproduce their life world in China.