Representation of Subaltern women in Ha Jin's Under the Red Flag
Date
2013-04
Authors
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Publisher
Central Department of English Kirtipur, Kathmandu
Abstract
Well-acclaimed short stories of Ha Jin manifest the consequence of
the Chinese Cultural Revolution under the command of the Communist
Party. Ha Jin also writes about loss and moral deterioration with the keen
sense of a survivor. His stories examine life in the bleak rural town of
Dismount Fort, where the men and women are full of passion and certainty
but blinded by their limited vision as they grapple with honor and shame,
manhood and death, infidelity and repression. In “A Man-to-Be”, a
militiaman engaged to be married participates in a gang rape, but finds
himself impotent when he looks into the eyes of the victim. His fiancée’s
family breaks off the engagement, not because of the rape, but because they
doubt his virility. In “Winds and Clouds over a Funeral”, a Communist
leader disobeys his mother's last wish for burial to keep his good standing in
the party, but his enemies bring him down for being a bad son. “In Broad
Daylight” is the story of the public humiliation of a woman accused of being
a whore. Her dignified defiance is gradually stripped away as she is dragged
through the streets, cursed and spat upon by strangers and family alike. His
descriptions of daily life and typical frustrations are refreshing. This is not a
book about prison camps or starvation. Stories Under the Red Flag is not a
book about the tyranny of communism or of escape to freedom. It is simply a
book about a man who wants his wishes to be fulfilled, voice to be heard and
life to be lived in an uncontrolled way. Anyone who has ever felt frustration
by being a little fish in a big pond can identify with Shao Bin who, in spite of
setback after setback just keeps on going. There is satire for Communist
vi
regime and to the so called bourgeoisies and the higher people who are
engaged in enslaving the subalterns.
Description
Keywords
English literature, Short Stories, Chinese Culture