An Introduction to Postwar Taiwan Fiction

• Taiwan Literature

Concentrating on intensive and extensive readings of postwar Taiwan fiction in English translation, this course is designed to survey Taiwanese Literature from 1949 to the end of the 20th century. In this beginner-level course for the study of postwar Taiwan fiction, in order to understand the themes, styles and thoughts reflected in the texts, all participants will be asked to read, take notes, discuss, and, most importantly, make oral presentations of their own responses to and criticisms of the texts read weekly. This course can be seen as divided into two major parts. After the first two introductory weeks, from Week 3 to 6, the assigned readings have been selected around the four major historical themes: that is, the 228 Incident, the 1949 Great Retreat, the Korean and Vietnamese Wars, and the Protect Diaoyutai Movement. From Week 7 through week 17, the readings have been selected according to certain criteria of "periodization," which tends to divide Taiwan's postwar literary development into the major parts like the "anti-communist" 50s, the Modernist 60s, the Nativist-realist 70s, and the 80s of the urban fiction. Besides the four periods above, we will also examine the rise of some major female writers like Li Ang, Yuan Ch'iung-ch'iung, Hsiao Sa, and the Chu Sisters.