About Us

張愛玲研究新方向講座系列 New Directions in Eileen Chang Studies Lecture Series
Co-hosted by School of Chinese and Department of Comparative Literature, HKU
Co-sponsored by Louis Cha Fund for Chinese studies & East/West studies in the Faculty
& Center for the Study of Globalization and Culture (CSGC) 

娜拉做母親後怎樣？——缺位的“新母親”

How would Nora be a Mother?: The Absent “New Mother” in May Fourth China

分享嘉賓 Speaker:

Prof. LIN Zheng 林崢 (Sun Yat-sen University)

主持人 Moderator:

Prof. Nicole HUANG 黃心村 (Dept. of Comparative Literature, HKU)

日期時間 Date & Time: March 6, 2025 (Thu) 14:30-16:00pm (HKT)

語言 Language: Putonghua 普通話 

地點 Venue: CRT-4.36, 4/F, Run Run Shaw Tower, Centennial Campus, HKU 香港大學百周年校園逸夫教學樓4樓436室（文學院會議室）

摘要 Abstract:

“五四”以降，易卜生的“娜拉”成為獨立自主的“新女性”範本。但五四中國對“娜拉”的接受是有意錯位的，易卜生的娜拉是一位出走丈夫之家的妻子和母親，而五四中國召喚的娜拉則是出走父親之家的女兒和戀人。縱觀新文學的創作與實踐，無論在文本內外，對“新女性”的表現所在多有，對“新母親”的想像卻付之闕如。包括領風氣之先的女作家自身，廬隱、蕭紅、丁玲、林徽因、張愛玲等，對於作為母親的身份和身體，往往持排斥或困擾的態度，甚至激烈到墮胎、棄子。

魯迅曾在《娜拉走後怎樣》中點出娜拉的困境，而看似對五四傳統漠然的張愛玲在《走！走到樓上去》、《雷峰塔》、《小團圓》中多次隱晦地呼應和延續了魯迅提出的娜拉命題。張愛玲終其一生愛恨交織、反復書寫的母親黃逸梵，就是一個最生動也最複雜的中國娜拉，一個新文學史上缺位的、卻又曖昧不明的“新母親”。在這一背景下，講者將細緻考察張愛玲有關母親的一系列書寫，囊括早年的《流言》以及晚年的《雷峰塔》、《易經》、《小團圓》、《對照記》等。

張愛玲筆下的黃逸梵，是傳統文學和現代文學中都罕見的母親形象，她既有“神仙教母”的一面，是品味時髦、環球旅行、以三寸金蓮在瑞士滑雪、“重女輕男”支持女兒受教育的第一代獨立女性；卻又有“失職”的母親的一面，對女兒的苛刻、冷漠，厭棄自身作為母親的身份，並毫不避諱自我驚世駭俗的情欲享樂。借張愛玲自己的話，“鏈子斷了”，這是新舊倫理斷裂之下全新的母女關係。中國娜拉，如何平衡作為“新母親”的身份和作為“新女性”的自我？“新女性”是否也能是好母親？這是迄今為止仍橫亙在所有女性面前的艱難而真實的命題。

Since the May Fourth Movement, Ibsen’s “Nora” has become an icon of independent “New Woman”. However, the reception of “Nora” in May Fourth China was intentionally misplaced. Ibsen's Nora was a wife and mother who ran away from her husband's home, while the Nora summoned by May Fourth China was a daughter and girlfriend who ran away from her father's home. Throughout the creation and practice of new literature, there are many expressions of the "New Woman" both inside and outside the literary text, but there is a lack of imagination about the "New Mother". Including the leading female writers themselves, such as Lu Yin, Xiao Hong, Ding Ling, Lin Huiyin, Eileen Chang, etc., they often rejected or were bothered by their identities and bodies as mothers, sometimes even went to the extent of abortion or abandoning their children.

Lu Xun once pointed out the dilemma of Nora in "What Happens After Nora Running Away", while Eileen Chang, who seemed indifferent to the May Fourth tradition, subtly echoed Lu Xun's question of Nora in her works such as "Go! Up to the Tower", The Fall of the Pagoda, and Little Reunion.

The image of Yvonne Huang, the mother of Eileen Chang, portrayed with a mixture of obsession and hatred in her daughter’s repeated writings, is the most vivid and intricate Chinese “Nora”, a missing yet ambiguous "New Mother" in the history of new literature. This talk will delve into Eileen Chang's extensive writings about her mother, spanning her early works such as Rumors to later ones such as The Fall of the Pagoda, The Book of Change, Little Reunion, Duizhao Ji, etc.

Yvonne Huang, as delineated by Eileen Chang, is a unique maternal figure in both traditional and modern literature. She has both sides: a "fairy godmother" who represents the first generation of independent and stylish women with refined tastes, traveling around the world and skiing in Switzerland with her "pair of three-inch golden lotus," choosing to fund her daughter's education over her son's. But there is also the side of an "inadequate" mother, harsh and indifferent to her daughter, despising her own maternal identity, and indulging in shocking sexual pleasure. To borrow Eileen Chang's own words, “the chain breaks”, this signifies a novel mother-daughter relationship amidst the breakdown of the old and new ethics. How can China's Nora balance her identity as a "New Mother" with her self as a "New Woman"? Can 'New Women' also be good mothers? This remains a challenging and real question that confronts all women to this day.

講者簡介 About the Speaker:

林崢，中山大學人文高等研究院副院長、中文系副教授，北京大學學士、博士。曾赴哈佛大學、劍橋大學、柏林洪堡大學、臺灣清華大學等高校訪問。長期致力於城市文化研究、中國現當代文學研究。著有《公園北京：文化生產與文學想像（1860-1937）》（北京大學出版社）。

Zheng LIN holds the position of Vice Deputy at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Humanities within Sun Yat-Sen University, while also serving as Associate Professor of Chinese Language and Literature. She received both her Bachelor’s and PhD degrees from Peking University, and has visited prestigious institutions such as Harvard University, Cambridge University, Humboldt University and National Tsinghua University. Her research focuses on urban cultural studies and modern Chinese literature. In 2022, She published her groundbreaking book Park Beijing: Cultural Production and Literary Imagination (1860-1937) through Peking University Press.

Notice:

1) The seminar will be conducted primarily in a face-to-face mode; Those who cannot attend the seminar in-person could apply for online participation (via Zoom) with justifications;

2) All those who would like to attend the seminar are required to register online (Click HERE) on a first-come, first-served basis;

3) Email of confirmation will be sent to the registered email addresses and participants have to show the screenshot or print-out version of the email for entry of the seminar venue;

4) Walk-in or late-comers will not be allowed for entry of the seminar venue unless situation allows.

ALL are welcome*

*Pre-registration (Click HERE) is requested.