ABSTRACT
This chapter takes a new look at Yu Hua’s novel Cries in the Drizzle in the genre of bildungsroman. In a typical bildungsroman, the protagonist usually grows into maturity of recognizing his or her social identity after undergoing many trials. The protagonist of Yu Hua’s novel, however, deviates from this generic model. Examining this work in the context of discursive construction of youth in modern China, this chapter attempts to explain the historical and social forces that make the protagonist’s maturity a mission impossible.
