Abstract

China’s political, social and cultural environment during the 1920s and 1930s shaped the ‘new woman’ notion, which was a crucial dynamic of female liberation during the May Fourth era. In Lu Yin’s novel The Heart of Women (Nüren de xin 女人的心), the image of new woman is secondary to the cause of China’s modernisation in a male-dominated May Fourth discourse. This essay will explore this position from three perspectives. The construction of the new woman during the May Fourth era characterises the first point. The second is male-dominated discourse of modern identity and new woman in the May Fourth literature. Male lead in The Heart of Women is the third aspect.

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