이윤 리의 『고독보다 더 친절한』(Kinder Than Solitude)에 나타난 개인 삶과 역사적 책임 사이의 갈등과 수용

Conflict and Acceptance between Individual Life and Historical Responsibility in Yiyun Li's Kinder Than Solitude

This paper examines the survival strategies of the main characters in Yiyun Li’s Kinder Than Solitude, focusing on their lives of solitude in China and America before and after the death of Shaoai. It also explores why Ruyu, who, although not intending to poison Shaoai, is deeply tied to her death, decides to return to China after nearly two decades of her life in America. By analyzing Li’s motivations for depicting intergenerational conflicts within the narrative that moves back and forth between the past and the present, it suggests that regardless of their conflicts, they are all collectively responsible for Shaoai’s death. Li’s dual experiences in China and America influence her inability to detach politics from her writing about China. She critically assesses the changes in Chinese society post-Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 in her recent works. Connecting the real-life case, the thallium poisoning of Zhu Ling in 1995 and the fictional character Shizuo’s struggle between material and spiritual values in Kinder Than Solitude, Li illustrates how historical events continue to impact each character’s contemporary life, emphasizing the importance of historical continuity that can be established by intergenerational true connection.