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Title |
Diaspora and Identity Transformation in Pai Hsien-Yung's Homosexual Fictions (1969-1981) |
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Author |
Tseng, Hsiu-Ping |
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Doctoral Candidate, Department of Chinese Literature, National Cheng-chi University |
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Abstract |
This article aims to explore the relationship between gender / sexuality, diaspora experiences, personal identities, memories, narratives and the imagined homeland in Taipei People and Crystal Boys. In recent diaspora studies, especially the racial and national issues, have become hot topics while the politics of sexuality has been more or less neglected. This article may act as a supplement in this respect. It is argued that characters in Taipei People have, through their homosexual identities, developed a new homeland identity with Taipei other than with China. Yet, it can be observed that the spatial and temporal experience described in the two homosexual short stories “ Love’s Lone Flower” and “ A Sky Full of Bright, Twinkling Star” are quite distinct in Taipei People. As the narratives moved onto the next generation, different view points among diaspora groups were revealed, serving as departures for the formation of new national identities. In Crystal Boys, complicated complexes between Taiwanese and Japanese were reflected through the diaspora experiences of the homosexual groups in the United States, Japan, China and Taiwan. These trans-lingual, trans-national, and trans-historical practices were transformed into a hybridity of cultural experiences in their daily lives, a reflection of the complicated Post-colonial context and hybridity of Taiwan. Taipei has turned into the locus of emotions and memories for characters in Pai Hsien-Yung stories during this period, also a turning point for Pai to reconsider his personal identity. We can say that, these homosexual fictions, as a supplement of Pai’s other heterosexual fictions, have offered us a new dimension to reconsider the connection between the sexual and national identities, and to explore the possibilities of multiple cultural identities and imagined homeland. |
