KINESKA NOVA ŽENA U UMETNOSTI I STVARNOSTI: NADE, STRAHOVI I MOGUĆNOSTI
China’s New Woman in Art and Reality: Hopes, Fears, and Possibilities

Summary/Abstract: This paper explores different depictions of the New Woman in China. By analyzing how various ideological movements defined this identity, it is concluded that different visions of modernity were imposed through the image of the New Woman. Generally speaking, while the traditional woman was seen as embodying social “backwardness”, the modern woman represented either a call to a better future or a fear of losing one’s own tradition. Furthermore, this paper offers a historical and theoretical development of the New Woman. It first presents the transition from the “talented” woman of the Ming (1368–1644) and Qing (1644–1911) dynasties to the New Woman of the modern era, while also analyzing the models that influenced her formation. Her development was largely shaped by Henrik Ibsen with his play A Doll’s House, but the impact of Alexandra Kollontai cannot be overlooked either. Kollontai equally drew the attention of the Chinese with her views on sexuality. After describing the “Chinese Noras” and “Iron Girls”, the paper briefly shifts to the work of Ding Ling, who through her literary depictions summarized both certain forms of the New Woman and this subject’s relationship to sexuality. Her works serve as an introduction to the “modern girl”, a figure who stands in contrast to the New Woman or represents her subtype – as one embodies hope, while the other embodies fear. Finally, as a paradigm of this narrative, the film New Woman is discussed, and at the very end, there is a reflection on how much this figure surpassed the boundaries of art and stepped into Chinese reality.

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