Graduate Institute of Taiwanese Literature, NCCU

Title Exploring Clipping Wings: A Chronicle and Revisiting Wang Wen-Hsing's Ultimate Quest within a Vision of "World Literature" Author Chang, Sung-sheng Yvonne Professor, Department of Asian Studies; Program in Comparative Literature, The University of Texas at Austin Abstract Clipping Wings: A Chronicle (2016) marks a significant milestone in Taiwanese modernist fiction. This novel delves deeply into issues of life, ethics, and faith, elevating Wang Wen-Hsing's (1939-2023) lifelong pursuit of linguistic experimentation to new heights. The works skillfully employs highly sophisticated writing techniques from the Western modernist literary tradition, such as "parodic mimicry," for moral subversion and highlighting fundamental "epistemic incertitude" through shifting perspectives involving an idiosyncratically conceived "implied author." Although it did not gain widespread appreciation from readers in the short term, for some, it offers a profoundly gratifying aesthetic experience. The author himself states that he is committed to pursuing a "colorless and scentless" style, an innovative realm in "world literature" that few can master or appreciate. To understand the significance of this pursuit, one must first grasp Wang Wen-Hsing's foundational assumptions and values regarding "world literature." Ultimately, it is this unwavering belief that propels him to accept potential challenges, including indifference from readers. Therefore, this paper focuses on the inspiration Wang received from the Flaubertian realist tradition during his time at the Iowa Writers' Workshop and the unique narrative strategies he designed to achieve––or even surpass––this tradition. Beyond its religious dimension, Wang Wen-Hsing's relentless pursuit of the artistic effect of "innovative language" can be interpreted as a substitute for or counterpart to "religious belief." This approach aligns with the realist novel tradition initiated by Flaubert and represents a significant "ultimate pursuit" in Wang's creative career. Through Erich Auerbach's analysis of Flaubert's realistic ideals in Mimesis: The Representation of Reality in Western Literature, this paper aims to further elucidate the "purist" form of fiction writing in Clipping Wings—described by Wang as "pristine water, with no scent"—and its connection to religious sentiment. In particular, it explores the profound interaction between this writing style and the "body," encompassing both the individual (the physiological dimensions of literary creation and appreciation) and the collective (the codified system of symbolic order and social language). The emergence of "affect theory" in the mid-1990s offers a new interpretive lens for understanding this complex relationship. Thus, this paper incorporates affect theory into the discussion to complement existing research.  

Title Transformation: Travel Narratives in Taiwanese Juvenile Fictions Author Lin, Shu-Hui Professor, Department of Taiwan Culture, Languages and Literature, National Taiwan Normal University Abstract Taiwanese juvenile fictions deal with cultural issues, and the characters in travel fictions gradually construct their identities through travel and adventure, emerging as a theme of growth. In this paper, I use Joseph Campbell's "The Hero's Journey" as a theoretical framework. Campbell argues that the hero’s journey narrative used to have a structure of departure, initiation, and return. Embarking on a journey is a process of searching for and realizing oneself. Abandoning the stability of everyday life, one sets out to find answers to the puzzles of life, gaining inspiration in the process, and ultimately returning to society with more sound physical and mental health to start a new life. Using three Taiwanese juvenile fictions, this paper explores the experiences of the protagonists during their travel across land and sea, analyzing the relationship between the journey and changes in identity. In the course of the journey, the protagonist encounters multiple disasters, but with the guidance of the wise old men and the warm encouragements of their companions, they finally return home and bids farewell to their "old selves", eventually completing their heroic journey. Ah Guo's Cycling on the Suva Road by Zhang You-Yu (1964-), and Liao Da-Yu (1965-), The Solo Cycling Trip contemplate the proposition of personal identity through the sense of place constructed by a teenager traveling on a bicycle. Huang Yu-Wen (1930-), Ocean Youngster uses sea turtles as the main characters in the story, depicting traveling across the ocean, echoing the theme of environmental and ecological issues, and constructing a sense of identity for the protagonists in this way. The travel narrative of Taiwan's juvenile fictions is interpreted in terms of three levels: the call to departure and the route of movement, the trial and initiation, and the meaning of the metamorphosis of return. Juvenile fictions also serve the purpose of an educational function, dealing with the view of oneself and providing readers with an understanding of the relationship between oneself and the outside world.  

Title Derivative Works as a Form of a Literary Work's Afterlife: On Derivative Poems of Yang Mu's "Someone Asked Me about Questions of Justice and Righteousness" Author Zhan, Min-Xu Associate Professor, Graduate Institute of Taiwan Literature and Transnational Cultural Studies, National Chung Hsing University Abstract When discussing the afterlife of literature, the focus often falls on translation or cross-media adaptations of literary works. This article aims to analyze derivative works as a form of a literary work's afterlife, thereby opening up new avenues for discourse. It selects Yang Mu (1940-2020), "Someone Asked Me about Questions of Justice and Righteousness" and its derivative poems as a case study. In 1984, Yang Mu composed a lengthy poem titled "Someone Asked Me about Questions of Justice and Righteousness," which delved into themes of provincial identification, identity struggle, and fusion of ethnicities. Interestingly, since 2010, we have consistently come across Yang Mu's poem from nearly forty years ago circulating on social media. Moreover, there have been numerous derivative poems paying homage to this particular work, such as Hong Chong-De (1988-), "I Want to Ask You Questions of Justice and Righteousness" and Liu Wai-Tong (1975-), "Someone Asked Me about Questions of Justice and Righteousness again." While this poem is not Yang Mu's sole expression of societal concern, nor is it the only social poem in the Taiwanese poetry scene, it has generated a significant number of derivative works that deserves in-depth examination. The research objective of this article is two-fold: first, tracing the background of derivative works of Yang Mu's poem, and second, comparing the different discourses of justice presented in these derivative works.  

Title The Rise of National and Local Consciousness: Industrial Parks and Rural Areas in 1970s Singaporean and Taiwanese Novels Author Chang, Wei-Hsin Doctoral Candidate, Graduate Institute of Taiwanese Literature, National Chengchi University 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.