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Title |
Viewing Landscapes to Observe Change: Travel Narratives in Diaries during the Japanese Colonial Period in Taiwan |
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Author |
Lin, Shu-Hui |
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Professor, Department of Taiwan Culture, Languages and Literature, National Taiwan Normal University |
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Abstract |
Diaries written during the Japanese Colonial Period in Taiwan not only possess historical values of recording important historical events and keeping the memories of times, but also hold literary values with the illustration of Taiwan’s landscapes as well as the authors’ personal feelings about their traveling. So how did the writers illustrate their trips in such private works? How do these writings preserve the trace of the changes of times in Taiwan? In 1927, the Taiwan Nichinichi Shimpo reported the Eight Views of Taiwan as: Cape Eluanbi, Mountain Ali, Sun Moon Lake, Taroko, Tamsui, Ape Hill, Keelung Rising Sun Hill, and Eight Immortals Mountain. In addition, New High Hill and Taiwan Shrine were claimed to be the Two Special Views of Taiwan. This paper uses three diaries that are written in similar times and contain experiences of traveling around Taiwan as research materials. The three diaries are “The Diary of Chang Li-Jun,” “The Diary of Taiwan Governor-general Den Kenjiro,” and “The Diary of Mr. Guan Yuan(Lin Xian-tang).”This paper studies the images of the Eight Views and Two Special Views of Taiwan portrayed in the diaries, analyzes the narratives about traveling and the trace of changes implied in the illustrated landscapes; it aims to explore the connection between texts and culture, interpreting the academic meaning of the authors’ spatial mind or sense of place. |
