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Title |
The Image of Taiwanese in the Literary Works of Niigaki Kouichi |
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Author |
Lin, Hui-Chun |
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Associate Professor, General Education Center, Chang Gung Institute of Technology |
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Abstract |
Japanese writer Niigaki Kouichi 1913-2002, born during the Japanese Occupation Period and raised in Taiwan, had published nearly twenty short stories and short-short stories in Taiwan, and received the “Literature Taiwan Award” from the Literature Taiwan magazine. This paper focuses on the images of Taiwanese figures in his writings, including “ The Gate”, “In the market”, “Engagement”, “Fire of the Mountain”, “Sand Dust”, “Dock”, and “preparation”, in order to observe how the author, from the viewpoint of civil imperial leader, pointed out the road of Japanization for the Taiwanese under the system of national battle. Niigaki’s Taiwanese experiences made him better understanding the lives of the people in colonized Taiwan, thus capturing their images and expressing others’ opinions of the contented self. This paper reviews the depiction of figures of various classes and both genders, including young drifters, female students, students studying in Japan, aboriginals, and workers, revealing his persistence to the land of Taiwan. His works also demonstrate the regional characteristics of Taiwan and supplement the literary works in the colonial country. However, he couldn’t throw off the sense of superiority of as a Japanese, thus had appeared in his writings as colonists, without seeing through the real problems of imperial residents’ education. Although his writing did not completely reveal the literary ideas, he showed continuous concerns on topics in his life and through the depiction of trivial figures; thus, he should be considered an important writer with distinguished personal characteristics among the Japanese writers in Taiwan. |
