Phantom in the Mirror: Can Xue’s Deconstruction of Self in Old Floating Clouds

Old Floating Clouds is a novella by contemporary Chinese writer Can Xue. Through the daily relationships between neighbors, husband and wife, father and daughter, lovers and mistresses, colleagues and friends, the novel shows that people have become caught in a web of jealously hating each other. The image of mirror plays an important role in the novel, and peep exists in every corner of the novel. In addition to being a mirror of objects, the human mind is also a kind of mirror in the interweaving of each other, and the relationship between self and others is constantly deconstructed and reshaped. This paper will use the “Mirror Stage” theory of psychoanalysis to explore and examine how the protagonists use the mirror to explore and examine themselves, and how they gradually become self-alienation and division in the mutual peeping with others. The mirror is not only a tool to peep at others, but also a reflection of the protagonists’ inner anxiety and self-examination. During the process of peeping, people try to find self-identification and comfort, but eventually fall into a deeper self-loss and spiritual dilemma.