The Expectation for a Son to Mature into a Paternity

<The South-Goods Shop> provides a rich and detailed portrayal of the lives of men in rural counties and villages of China in the latter half of the 20th century. Through this text, one can observe the discourse of masculinity mainly characterized by "paternity," as well as the contexts in which various survival needs and cultural experiences are generated. By exploring the dynamic of male growth and life experiences in the continuous pursuit of trusting connections between self and others, under the anxiety of "paternity" identity that haunts them, the situation of suppression and objectification faced by men can be revealed. In this process, the simultaneous attention to the stage-specific expression of male identity and that of the family space constitutes the main line of reasoning in this paper.