Voiceless Witnesses:
Voiceless Witnesses:

The Role of the Beggar in Four Works of Modern and Contemporary Chinese Literature

Author(s): Martina R. Prosperi
Subject(s): Studies of Literature, Sociology, Sociology of Literature
Published by: Univerzita Palackého v Olomouci
Keywords: Chinese literature; Lu Xun; Ba Jin; A Yi; Agamben;
Summary/Abstract: Thinking of China in the early 20th century and China today, one tends to highlight the great transformations dividing past and present. However, Chinese literature offers evidence of interesting thematic continuities, too. The figure of the beggar, an extremely significant yet voiceless outcast of society, is just one remarkable example. Represented by modern characters such as the protagonists of Lu Xun’s “Kong Yiji” (1919) and of Ba Jin’s “Dog” (1931), the beggar continues to appear in contemporary narratives, including A Yi’s short story “An Accidental Murder” (2010) and his novel Wake Me Up at 9:00 in the Morning (2014). Which continuities are traceable among these works? If literature has the power to voice the voiceless, what do the outcasts portrayed by these authors reveal to their readers? Drawing on Agamben’s reflections on the concept of testimony and on psychoanalytic categories, this chapter offers a comparative analysis of four case studies.

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