The Change Of Urban Prostitutes' Images

This thesis tries to look through the novels about "prostitute" from Yuanyang Hudie Pai (which means "Mandarin duck and Butterfly school") to the first decade of the Chinese modern literature. From the various images of prostitute in the literary works in this period, we not only sense the changing of aesthetic style, but also may discuss the transition of Chinese urban society and try to gain a new perception of the images of "prostitute".From the end of 19th century the works of Yuanyang Hudie Pai began to sweep the country. Images of prostitute in their novels are numerous and. These images by and large overthrew the traditional ones since Tang Dynasty, and turned into shrewd female merchants who only care about business and gain pleasure from money and popularity.After the mighty May 4th movement many new writers has practiced their pursuits for Chinese literature under the subject matter of "prostitute", especially urban prostitutes.If the images provided by Yuanyang Hudie Pai are shrewd, blunt, merchant-like, optimism-coexisting-with-pessimism urban prostitutes, the same subject became a brand-new literary practice since real "Chinese modern literature history" started. It gradually divided into two kinds of images, one of which was more like a reflection of cynicism of their own. The combination of biography and novel, reality and fiction was one of the means they found to express themselves. The other kind changed suddenly into the best spokeswomen for the underprivileged people who live in the bottom of the society. At the same time, they became the best tools used by the authors to expose and castigate social unfairness and vileness, for they suffered poverty, insult and oppression to the fullest extent.Hence, "prostitute", a typical image of light literature, had been linked with the typical politics of the May 4th period. And we may as well understand them as slogan shouting for social reform.