Symbols and Subversion in 13 Happiness Street Essay -- 13 Happiness Str

"13 Happiness Street" is a political satire which relies largely on the subversion of conventional symbols to convey its message. By subversion, I mean the process by which Bei Dao uses unconventional meanings of conventional symbols to undermine accepted literary norms. That is, he offers in place of the common associations of a symbol, another symbolic association that draws its meaning from the context of the narrative. Indeed, the very meaning of the narrative is couched in the language of metaphors and symbols. It is here that the author constructs a narrative using conventional symbols which play upon and also against the reader's expectations. Before we examine the means by which the author subverts the archetypal notions of symbols, it is first imperative to understand how these symbols stand in relation to the narrative and the reader. Symbols find their place within a narrative through a conscious desire of the author to create a pattern of meaning, while the reader on the other hand, attempts to re-construct these meanings by drawing upon conventional associations with events. Conventional symbols are thus internalized in our mental consciousness and associated with what we take to be their predisposed meanings. That is, our minds works to form preconceived mental pictures of what these symbols should universally represent. "13 Happiness Street" is thus a narrative that gains much of its significance through the subversion of conventional symbols against our expectations. The subversion of the archetypal symbol takes place within various levels of the narrative, the first being the immediate layer of the narrative itself, and the second being the symbols within the narrative. I shall first discuss how Bei Dao subv... ...the dichotomy between the said and the implied. On the surface, it may seem to be a story that ends inconclusively about a boy who is never found, but the use of multifarious symbols each bringing with them a string of other meanings contributes to the symbolic richness of his prose. Works Cited Bei Dao, "13 Happiness Street." Contemporary Literature of Asia. Ed. Arthur Biddle et al. Blair: Upper Saddle River, NJ, 1996. 280-291. Chatman, Seymour, "Existents." Story and Discourse: Narrative Structure in Fiction and Film. Ithaca: Cornell UP, 1978. 107-126, 131-145. Todorov, Tzvetan. "Two Principles in Narrative." Genres in Discourse. Trans. Catherine Porter. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 27-30. Holden, Philip. "Aristotle on Plot". 26 Nov. 2000. University Scholars Programme. 1 Aug. 2001 http://www.scholars.nus.edu.sg/literature/ccla01/aristotleplot.html>.