earticle

영어

This study examines the phenomenon of "social death" experienced by individuals living with HIV/AIDS in contemporary Chinese society through an analysis of Gu Changwei's film "The Most Beloved". It demonstrates that this process is not simply a product of external social exclusion, but a dual-dimensional construction that entails the disintegration of self-identity under the weight of stigmatization. By synthesizing the theory of "social death" with Erving Goffman’s framework of "stigmatization", the article argues that social death is not a unidirectional form of social oppression, but a sophisticated process co-constituted by external institutional mechanisms and internal psychological identification. The study first notes that the film's metaphorical substitution of "fever disease" for AIDS reflects the stigmatized reality faced by persons with AIDS in China. External society systematically strips patients of their social identities and rights to normal life through spatial segregation (e.g., confining them to abandoned schools outside the village) and public scrutiny (e.g., labeling them as "promiscuous" or "immoral"). Concurrently, through sustained discrimination and exclusion, patients internalize this external stigma, resulting in self-deprecation and behavioral withdrawal, manifest as passive acceptance and relinquishment of resistance. Through close analysis of the film's narrative and audiovisual language, the article further illustrates how characters progressively move toward social death under the dual pressure of public judgment and self-scrutiny. For instance, Shang Qinqin, infected through blood selling, never attempts to explain her situation; Zhao Deyi offers no retort when his cigarettes are refused or his wedding candy is rejected. These behaviors exemplify the thorough internalization of external stigma into self-identity. Crucially, the terminally ill characters' obsessive pursuit of symbolic objects—such as the marriage certificate, the "Little Red Book", a red cotton-padded jacket, and a dignified coffin—is interpreted as their final struggle against existential anxiety. These objects, serving as tangible symbols of social identity and relational bonds, become their ultimate proof of having once existed as recognized social beings. However, this very act of striving for validation essentially constitutes a passive acceptance of mainstream social norms—a tragic compromise made by individuals powerless to alter their stigmatized fate. The study ultimately concludes that the most profound form of death is not the end of biological life, but rather the tragic paradox wherein individuals, in their struggle to reclaim dignity, unknowingly direct all their agency toward endorsing their own social death. This research not only provides a novel theoretical perspective for interpreting “The Most Beloved” but also offers critical reflections on the tension between mechanisms of social exclusion and the dignity of life, carrying significant practical relevance and critical value.