The Body in the Square─Narrative of a Carnival in Yu Hua’s Brother

Author: Hsiao-Feng Shih(Department of Chinese, National Taiwan Normal University)

Vol.&No.：Vol. 57, No. 1
Date：March 2012
Pages：103-128
DOI：10.3966/207451922012035701005

Abstract：

Based on Mikhail Mikhailovich Bakhtin’s carnival theory, we analyzed the characters’ carnival performance in Yu Hua’s Brother from the perspective of the “body.” First, we explained how sex, violence and fi ghting, and death were important events that were held in the public square of Liu town （劉鎮）. Second, we discussed how Yu Hua （余華） often creates parodies through passive writing of the cavities of the human body. He also tends to combine “the servile body” and “the solemn body” as a method of ridicule. Then, we use “the displayed body,” “the sublime body,” “the scapegoat body,” and “the crying body” to highlight what the characters Li Guangtou （李光頭）, Song Fanping （宋凡平）, Li Lan （李蘭）, and Song Gang （宋鋼） represent, respectively. This study concludes that Brother is an instinctive subversion.

Keywords：Brother, Mikhail Mikhailovich Bakhtin, Yu Hua, carnival, body

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