台灣女性小說史─後現代與後殖民：1987年以來的台灣女性小說(1/3)
Date Issued
2004-07-31
Date
2004-07-31
Author(s)
DOI
922411H002106AE
Abstract
This project seeks to study Taiwan women’s fiction since 1987 in
relation to Taiwan fiction and the field of cultural production during
the period. I argue that Taiwan fiction since 1987 has been characterized
by postmodern writing style and postcolonial multiple identification (i.
e. along the lines of ethnicity, the nation, the native, gender, and
sexuality). Women’s fiction during this period stands out in these two
aspects as well. The year 1987 marks an important transition in the
history of Taiwan fiction. The publication of Yeh Shih-tao’s The
Historical Outlines of Taiwan Literature in that year corresponds to the
lifting of the martial law and signifies the nativist intervention of the
writing of the history of Taiwan literature. The book’s landmark
significance is echoed by the fact that pro-Independence fiction and
skeptical fiction, which were dominant in the genre of political fiction
in the eighties, reaches another climax after 1987. These two subgenres
of political fiction as well as the new Chuan-tsuen fiction and the new
urban fiction all involve a rethinking of Taiwan’s national and cultural
identity and the definition of the “native.” Postmodern writing
strategies fit well into the de-mystification agenda of skeptical fiction,
but they are also widely adopted by Chuan-tsuen fiction, women’s fiction,
gay and lesbian fiction, and sci-fi. The prevalence of postmodernism has
a lot to do with its promotion and establishment by the two dominant
newspapers. The literary field is greatly influenced by the media and
the market orientation after 1987. The publishers tend to stimulate
cultural consumerism by capitalistic marketing strategies, hence
promoting books by focusing on special issues and authorial
photo-attached packages. The deregulation of limited number of
newspapers undermines the domination of the two leading newspapers. As
a result, the reading population of “pure literature” is on the decrease,
despite that the literary supplements have gained more space. The media
catch the reader’s attention through new topics such as new social
movements like the feminist movement, gay and lesbian movement, and the
aboriginal movement as well as the debates on Taiwan’s national identity
between pro-Independence and pro-reunification camps. Such a multiple
identification seems to represent a desire in the Taiwanese collective
unconscious toward postcolonialism. Correlating with such a desire is
the prevalence of feminist fiction, gay and lesbian fiction, and
aboriginal fiction as well as pro-Independence fiction and skeptical
fiction.
Women’s fictions dealing with Taiwan’s national and cultural
identity or a re-definition of the “native” include Chen Yeh’s The Muddy
River, Li Ang’s The Labyrinthine Garden, Pei-kung Incense Pot, Novel: An
Autobiography, Su Wei-chen’s Leaving Tung-feng, Chu Tien-tsin’s The
Ancient Capital, Ping Lu’s Walking to the Edge of the World, Madame
Chiang’s Letters, When Does My Love Come Back to Me?, Chu Tien-wen’s Notes
of a Desolate Man, Yuan Cheong-cheong’s Loves in this Lifetime, Shih
Shu-ching’s The Hong Kong Trilogy, and Tsai Su-fen’s Children of the
Salt-field. Women’s fiction with an emphasis on feminist consciousness
include Li Ang’s The Labyrinthine Garden, Ping Lu’s The Creamy Fountain,
Chu Tien-wen’s The Fin-de-Siecle Splendor, Cheng Ying-shu’s The Princess
Is Sleepless Through the Night, Chang Yuan’s The Women in the Restroom,
Chang Huei-ching’s On the Apocalyptical Morning. Women’s fiction dealing
with gay or lesbian or queer topics include Chiu Miao-jin’s Notes of a
Crocodile, Chen Shuei’s Evil Women’s Book, Chu Tien-wen’s Notes of a
Desolate Man, Tsao Li-chuen’s The Dance of Innocent Girls, LingYen’s The
Bird That Has Lost Its Voice, Chang Yi-shuan’s When She Breaks Down, Cheng
Ying-shu’s Humankind Should Not Fly, and Tu Shiu-lan’s Bad Daughters. As
far as writing methods are concerned, both Chu Tien-wen’s Notes of a
Desolate Man and Chu Tien-tsin’s The Ancient Capital use pastiche, while
Ping Lu’s Madame Chiang’s Letters and When Does My Love Come Back to Me?
and Hung Ling’s Beast are metafictions. These postmodern writing
strategies are sometimes playful but they can also be used to subvert and
deconstruct dominant ideas in a way that correlates with postcolonial
thinking. Apart from the above-mentioned fiction, which can be seen as
the mainstream of Taiwan women’s fiction since 1987, non-mainstream
fiction includes Shih Shu-ching’s fin-de-siecle novel Tipsy Makeup.
This project will take three years. In the first year, I will
survey Taiwan fiction since 1987 and study the field of cultural
production during this period. In the second year, I will continue the
study of the first year and focus on the difference and overlapping between
women’s fiction and mainstream fiction during this period. In the third
year, I will study the mainstream and non-mainstream of women’s fiction
during this period and evaluate individual women writers.
Subjects
postmodern
postcolonial
Taiwan fiction since 1987
Taiwan women’s fiction
multiple identification
the field of cultural
production
production
market orientation
Publisher
臺北市：國立臺灣大學外國語文學系暨研究所
Type
report
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