Taiwan Literature in the 21st Century: A Critical Reader

Description

This book is an anthology of research co-edited by Dr. Chia-rong Wu (University of Canterbury) and Professor Ming-ju Fan (National Chengchi University). This collection of original essays integrates and expands research on Taiwan literature because it includes both established and young writers. It not only engages with the evolving trends of literary Taiwan, but also promotes the translocal consciousness and cultural diversity of the island state and beyond. Focusing on the new directions and trends of Taiwan literature, this edited book fits into Taiwan studies, Sinophone studies, and Asian studies.  Acknowledgements A Note on Chinese Romanization Contents Editors and Contributors Introduction: Taiwan Literature in the 21st Century 1 The Historical and Theoretical Framework 2 An Overview of Chapters References The Reconstruction of History and Politics Democracy Detoured and a Narrator Detached in the Political Fiction of Lai Xiangyin 1 Progression and Regression 2 Historiography and Metanarrative 3 Conclusion References A Venture into Taiwan’s Political Changes and Historical Memories Through Li Ang’s “Beef Noodle Soup” 1 Exploring the Historical Memories of the Homeland 2 “Beef Noodle Soup” in An Erotic Feast for Lovebirds 3 Between Fact and Fiction 4 Visceral, Gustatory, and Psychological Trauma 5 Recognition, Reflections, and Ironies 6 Some Concluding Remarks References Homegrown Stories: Gan Yao-Ming’s Fiction 1 Gan Yao-Ming 2 Contemporary Voices and the Magic of Realism 3 Maximalist and Homegrown Narratives References Genres, Forms, and Ideas Clipping Wings: A Chronicle and Wang Wen-Hsing’s Art 1 Foreword 2 A Mid-20th-Century Pilgrimage: The Iowa Legacy 2.1 Flaubert’s Disciple: Literature as Substitute Religion 3 Narrative Device as Marker of Cognitive Capacity 3.1 “Shame”: The Affect that Defines the Sense of Self 3.2 A Transactional Approach to Religious Faith 3.3 Innocent Suffering, Vacuous Compassion, and the Instinctive Evil 3.4 Trauma and the Possibility of Redemption 4 Existential Despair Reimagined 4.1 The Ethical Implications of “Taste” 4.2 Bureaucratic Conspiracy, Kafka-style 5 Cultural Elitism and the Aesthetically Neutralized Sociocultural Critique 5.1 Depravity as Source of Mimetic Pleasure 6 “Greater Freedom” in Tactics to Maximize Affect 6.1 Affect Theory and the Tapping of the Bodily Realm for Aesthetic Resource 7 Contemporary Reception and Literary History References Xia Yu, the Supreme Stylist References Everything Everywhere All at Once: The New Taiwan in Egoyan Zheng’s Science Fiction 1 Ground Zero and Schrödinger’s Cat 2 Dream Devourer and Laplace’s Demon 3 Conclusion References Reflections Upon Gender and Sexuality Chen Xue, Missing Fathers, and Queer Alternatives 1 “Lost Wings” 2 Becoming We 3 The Name of the Father 4 Coda References Sexuality and Trauma: Zhang Yixuan’s The Love that is Temporary and a Farewell Letter 1 Domestic Violence 2 Intimate Partner Violence 3 Sex and Sexuality References Liglav Awu, Child of the “Double Country”: The Clarion Voice of Indigenous Women in Taiwan 1 Introduction 2 A Child of the Double Country 2.1 Awu’s Double Heritage 2.2 A Way Back 3 Decolonizing Via Literature: “Dismantling” then “Rebuilding” 3.1 Destigmatizing Indigenous Women 3.2 Defending Practices and Territories 4 Trans-Indigenous Bridges 4.1 Common (Hi)Stories 4.2 Survivance Stories 5 Conclusion: Awu’s Heritage References On Ethnicities and Races Through an Indigenous Lens: Syaman Rapongan’s Rewriting of Oceanic Taiwan References Migrants of Today, Migrants of Tomorrow in Wu Ming-yi’s Literary Works 1 Dynamics of Taiwan 2 Migration and the Continued Catastrophes 3 Migrants of Yesterday 4 Migrants of Tomorrow References Anti-Japan or Becoming-Japanese: Li Yongping’s Writing on Japan in Postcolonial Taiwan 1 Japanese Memory in East Asia 2 The Anti-Japanism and Chineseness in Li Yongping’s Novels in the Twentieth Century 3 The Changes in “Japan” in Li Yongping’s Novels of the Twenty-First Century 4 The Diaspora and Translocalism 5 The Production of “Japan” in the Transnational Context References Huang Chong-kai and the Taiwanese Novel of Ideas 1 Gleaning or Gossip 2 Taiwan’s Diaspora on Mars 3 Counterfactual Historicity: A Taiwan–Cuba Great Exchange 4 Literary History as Media History 5 Language Lessons References Taiwan Literature in the Age of Globalization Escape and Return: Ghostly Representations of Home and Abroad in Kevin Chen’s “Summer Trilogy” 1 Repressed Sexuality in Ghost Town 2 Ghostly Entrapment and Liberation in Florida Metamorphosis 3 Gendered Liberation in The Good People Upstairs 4 Conclusion References Sketches on a Blank Slate: Shawna Yang Ryan’s Future-Oriented Memories of the Past 1 Positioning the Writer and Her Work 1.1 Biographical Notes 1.2 Multiple Belongings—The Author 1.3 Water Ghosts—Challenging the Nation-State 1.4 Green Island—Pursuing the Nation-State 1.5 Multiple belongings—The Literary Works 2 Resonating with the Foundational Myth 2.1 Impact Event 2.2 Impact Narratives 2.3 Family as a Site to Retell Trans/National History and Build Identity 2.4 The Victimized Individual and the National Trauma—THE PAST 2.5 The Victimized Nation and Reconciliation—THE PRESENT 2.6 Activist Memory to Create a Trans/National Space—THE FUTURE References National Border on the Tip of Tongue: The Limit of Cosmopolitan Citizenship in Count Down to Five Seconds of Crescent Moon 1 Influx of Three Cultures and Their Queer Love Traditions 2 The Inscription of Nationality, or What Does It Mean to Speak? 3 The Unsayability of Queer Love, or Why It Must Be Left Unsaid? References Index