• 비교문화연구
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• 제19권
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• pp.181-204
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• 2010

This study analyzes the meaning of madness shown in the female narrative, focusing on two novels- "Before the Operation" by Mei Niang and "Madman's Diary" by Baek Shin-Ae. The novel "Before the Operation" reveals women's instinctive desires through an insane woman and brings up a problem of unfair suppression caused by patriarchism. On the other hand, the heroine of "Madman's Diary" shows madness when she is at a crisis to be 'the other' in the patriarchal system. Her madness is caused because she fails to find the meaning of her presence in the system. Interestingly, a woman who departs from moral standards of patriarchy (from "Before the Operation") becomes thefocus of public censure while a man (from "Madman's Diary") who also ignores those standards seems to be a victim. In "Madman's Diary", the man's wife is accused of being mad while he draws sympathy as a victim. This shows that those moral standards have duplicity. At this point, the heroines who continuously adjust themselves to the system express their madness. In other words, the madness implies a stern protest against the moral standards applied differently to men and women. It is unique that the two heroines of the novels become 'sane' when they encounter thematter of 'being a mother'. When it comes to "Madman's Diary", 'being a mother' of the insane woman who becomes 'the other' in the system foretells dismal future. Meanwhile, Mei Niang indicates the way- 'being a mother'- to overcome the dismal future through "Before the Operation". In this case, the mother is not a figure that reproduces the patriarchal power structure, but an independent figure who wants to change it. For that reason, 'being a mother' has the meaning of subversion and resistance.

• 수완나부미
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• 제16권2호
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• pp.115-146
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• 2024

Southeast Asian detective stories and their scholarships have shown new understandings of justice and identity in this region. This study on Vietnamese detective stories in the early twenty-first century contributes to post-colonial discourses to reflect how colonial structures were constructed and reconstructed from the past until now. Starting with transnational characters and contexts, we demonstrate the subversion revealed in the way the perpetrator-victim are transposed and their motivations for the crimes. The Vietnamese detective novelists adjust the conventions of detective stories to address these issues of law, ethics, and truth that arise in the post-colonial context. These multidimensional narratives of crime and justice also serve as resistance to the grand narratives of power that have dominated Vietnam for years.