| Abstract |
Before the formal start of civil war, struggle between Kuomintang and Communist Party was began in Hong Kong when leftists came to the city for preparation of ideological propaganda. In 1947, more leftist fled to Hong Kong and initiate a series of cultural and literary activities. Dialect Literature Movement (DLM) was the most representative one. The involved leftists aimed at continuing “Popularization of Arts and Literature” in Hong Kong. Although workers and farmers in Guangdong were their imaginary readers and audience, they could not neglect local citizens who were their actual readers and audience. To maintain survival of cultural business and to explore writing resource, leftist editors and writers had to consider the need of citizens whose interests were very different from general mass in rural Guangdong. The Story of Shrimp-ball, the famous novel written by Huang Gu-liu, was regarded as most successful works produced in DLM. However, this paper points out that the writing strategy and production process of the novel demonstrated server tension between revolution and entertainment. Although the novel was warmly welcomed by common readers, it was blamed by some leftist critics because of its“non-class” and “Humanitarian” nature. From the viewpoints of orthodoxic leftists, the plot of The Story of Shrimp-ball is too dramatic and could not reach the goal of Popularization. As a marginal leftist in late 1940s, Huang Gu-liu’s literary views inherited May-fourth literature rather than leftist literature. In addition, the unique context of colonial urban Hong Kong, although provided freedom for leftists in a certain extent, but also constrained their considerations which put themselves into inevitable dilemma.
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