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Title |
The Rise of National and Local Consciousness: Industrial Parks and Rural Areas in 1970s Singaporean and Taiwanese Novels |
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Author |
Chang, Wei-Hsin |
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Doctoral Candidate, Graduate Institute of Taiwanese Literature, National Chengchi University |
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Abstract |
In the 1970s, Singaporean and Taiwanese novels focused on the industrial parks that thrived under national industrial policies but were rife with class conflicts, as well as the rural areas suffering from economic decline in the primary sector and population outmigration. After both countries experienced political crises, they became embedded in a new international division of labor, emerging as newly industrialized countries (NICs). As a result, the narratives in their novels increasingly clarified the consciousness of "nation" and "locality" in the context of how transnational capitalism and state authoritarianism affected workers' lives. The first part of this article outlines the comparable political economy and literary historical backgrounds of the two countries. The second part references David Harvey's observation that "class conflict can lead to local loyalties," explaining how the novels of Chung Han (1945-) and Yang Ching-Chu (1940-) redefined the literary "national" boundaries in their depictions of industrial parks. Chung Han othered Malaysia, projecting Singapore's unfulfilled desire for class revolution and distinguishing Singapore from Malaysia. Yang Ching-Chu's novels focus on the factories in southern Taiwan and his personal involvement in local elections, which has raised suspicions from the Kuomintang government that he supports "Taiwan independence." The third part analyzes the two narrative models presented in the works of Cheng Hsiang-Feng (1956-), Chung Han, Wang To (1944-2016), and Sung Tse-Lai (1952-) that depict economically declining rural areas: "leaving the countryside and abandoning the primary sector that once sustained them" and "exposing or challenging the unreasonable marketing systems of the rural primary sector." The uneven development between urban and rural areas in both countries is interconnected with the international division of labor, which the state itself cannot control. The "home/ country" can no longer provide a stable livelihood, and local identity is instead reinforced through local crises. |
