淸代 文化와 女性 彈詞小說 作家

Qing Era Culture and Women Tanci Novelists -a Profile of the Poetry World and Authorial consciousness

In Europe, it is said that the novel is the genre in which women participated, but in China this was not the case. Women authors in China traditionally enjoyed writing sisa (詩詞) and have taken their place in the history of literature through this. Wang So-gun of Han China and Yi Cheong-jo of Song China are examples of this. Yet we don't find many women authors in the area of narrative literature, such as novels. This is the case if we look at the canonical history of literature, but that does not mean that women did not participate in the area of narrative literature. It is only that the writing of tanci(彈詞) novels, which are recognized as popular literature, did nor become a part of the canonical history of literature. Tanci novels belong to the genre of popular novels, and thus are, strictly speaking, in the area of narrative literature. Tanci, which belong to the genre of lyric songs (gangchang), are divided into 'changsa(唱詞)' which are written for singing, and 'munsa(文詞)' which are written for reading. Those tanci which are meant ro be read are called tanci novels, but they are unique in that they have the form of verse. An example of verse used in narrative novels can be seen in the jaejagain(才子佳人) novel. This paper begins with the simple question of why women authors wrote tanci novels, and expands to an investigation of the literary background and creative consciousness of the women authors of the time. Ming and Qing China are generally considered the 'golden age' of women's literature in China. Thousands of women poets and sain appeared, poetic societies of 'talented women' were created, and books of poetry were published in large numbers. Not only that, but they openly publicized their works. In addition, this phenomenon brought about social criticism and fierce denunciation in a time when the cultural norms concerning women were especially strong, and the repercussions of this were great. The cultural background of the poetry world greatly stimulated women tanci novelists, and gave them the creative consciousness to not only reveal their deepest desires, but also to make their mark in history, through the writing of tanci novels rather than poetry. In actuality, most of the women who wrote tanci novels were of high social standing and had experience in writing poetry (hansi). Thus they wrote long tanci novels using hansi-style seven-character lines, and these, in the form of long, collaborative works, were regarded as having a place in the history of Chinese literature. Also, in the autobiographical parts, which can be called a unique tradition seen in women's tanci novels, one can sense a private authorial consciousness and a consciousness that comes from confronting the world as a woman writer. There are autobiographical parts in the prologues or epilogues of most works, which express through the lyrical verse of hansi(漢詩) everything from everyday life to the joys and sorrows of life. These parts, which are similar to diaries, were used as a place for the author to depict herself directly, without any relation to narrative structure and without any particular interpretation by the author. It is natural that the author's ideals and deepest desires should be contained in the work itself, but this is to some extent an indirect transmission of these ideas. Thus the autobiographical pans appear to have a special meaning to women tanci authors, and they appear to have become a tradition.