| dc.description.abstract | The purpose of this research is to discuss the position of Wu He’s novel in Taiwan’s contemporary society and literature. In Wu He’s text, the way of constructing the history and memory is deconstructed; a lot of local consciousness is disclosed; and the crises writing and memory facing is revealed. In his novel, a lot of visual effect is used, in particular on space and settings. For instance, Danshui, Wushe, and Haocha are some of his focal settings. The purpose of choosing “a setting” is to distinguish “that setting” from “this setting”. No matter it is a local or historical story, diataxis is an important way of the progress of his novels.
This thesis examines Wu He’s work from the relationship between history and memory, as well as the relationship between body and narrative. The analysis of the narrativity in Wu He’s work is based on White’s arguments about narratology and historiography. How he intertwines history and fiction in the text? How he illustrates the relations among the writer, the narrator, and the readers? How other characters’ points of view are presented? By using Wang’s discussion about history and memory, this thesis also examines how Wu He uses memory in his novel, and how the narrators in the real world and those in history interact in the text. In this thesis, we will also reflect on how a reader can explore the inherence of Taiwan from his texts. Accordingly, we will understand the reason why the novelist keeps “looking back” is to “look ahead”.
Wu He’s success in heterologic writing style brings an important revolution to Taiwan’s literature history in terms of narrativity: a lot of dialogues between history and memory in the text, historiography and vivid memory about places. All help the novelist to open the door of exploration while looking back. How does a novelist get rid of traditional ideology? How does a novelist properly use historical materials? How does a novelist switch between historical and novelistic languages as well as between real and fiction? Those are all the various narrative strategies used by Wu He, which are worth further discussion.
In conclusion, we discuss the crisis of writing. Today, when there is no mainstream ideology or suppression; when the system is chaotic and the human relations are collapsed, what can be revolved by novel? If the atmosphere of suppression becomes a “past,” then what can novelists write about in this liberate contemporary? What do they protest for? Therefore, the social atmosphere becomes a challenge to the text in terms of classicism and continuity. The position of “heterology” might need to be tested through time. | en_US |