중국 청년들을 둘러싼 저층화 공간 서사의 전환과 재맥락화

The Shift and Repositioning of Spatial Narratives Surrounding Impoverished Chinese Youth: A Study on the Evolution and Recontextualization of Their Living Conditions

국가는 개발의 논리를 통해 빈곤을 도시 공간의 중심으로부터 격리하고 재배치하려고 한다. 또 ‘혐오와 배제’, 그리고 ‘동정과 공감’의 서사를 동시에 구사함으로써, 결과적으로 구성원들이 경쟁 구조의 불가피성을 받아들이게 한다. 동시에 사회의 주체들은 집단적 불안과 우울, 정신병적 상태, 무기력, 집단 공황 등 병리적 징후를 일상적인 것으로 받아들이게 되었다. 이 같은 상황에도 불구하고, 본 논문은 청년들이 빈약한 자신들의 주거 공간 속에서 자기만족과 치료를 얻고, 또 표류하는 자신들의 미래를 위해 잠시라도 안착 가능한 ‘상륙지’를 찾아가는 다양한 시도를 발견하고, 그 의미에 주목하였다. 최근 청년들에게 보이는 ‘빈곤의 자기화’ 추세가 단순히 자기만족에 머물지 않고, 장차 경쟁 논리의 대안 서사가 될 가능성에 대해서 앞으로도 주의 깊게 지켜볼 필요가 있다.

This research examines how impoverished youth's perceptions of space, both real dwelling spaces and abstract social progress areas, are evolving. It examines in particular how the problems of'snail homes' and 'ant tribes', which were big difficulties connected to living spaces in the early 2010s, are continuing in what social context, and how disadvantaged youth are generating new narratives within this. They deploy narratives of 'disgust and exclusion' and'sympathy and empathy' towards poverty at the same time, eventually demonstrating new attitudes and actions in reaction to the state's narrative that has backed the development logic. Of course, their living conditions have not changed significantly, but the young are now learning to collect and recontextualize their own experiences and narratives in limited living spaces. Furthermore, in terms of social progress, they choose employment that provide stability in their lives rather than a single direction of travel focused in the city or the quest of tremendous achievement. Even people with strong academic credentials opt to go to the competitive perimeter, advance their jobs, and then return to the core city. The author believes that their psychological state is not entirely free of the stress of a competitive society and the narrative of competition, but that they are becoming psychologically stronger through lightness rather than previous heaviness, and cynicism and joy rather than sadness or despair. When reading impoverished youth's actions as signals of social transformation, it is assumed that the spectrum of interpretations will expand as we approach closer to future China.