| dc.description.abstract | Abstract
In recent years, regional literature in Taiwan has been developing rapidly. Local governments have been actively devoted to various literary and cultural activities in the hope that, by instilling such nutriments, Taiwan can become a land with more touching rhythms of the local and the native. Hualien literature plays quite a peculiar part in the regional literature of Taiwan. Its echoes of its history and culture (interwoven with elements of mountains and ocean) and its co-existence of independency and compatibility are the distinctive features which make Hualien literature stand out from other local literature. Besides, the complicated backgrounds of writers of Hualien bring about the pluralistic structures of Hualien literature. Therefore, reading works about Hualien offers the best access to the mysterious paradise of the so-called “back mountain”.
Chen Li is one of the most representative writers of Hualien, where he has been living for half a century, and where he nurtures and fosters his students with his passion, vitality, and everlasting creativity. He chews over the grand mountains and rivers, small streets and alleys, and touching stories of common people, and then gives forth the fragrance of localism of Hualien. In this thesis I attempt to discuss the various facts of Hualien writing in Chen Li’s poetry and prose by referring to relevant journals, newspapers, research papers, and drawing on viewpoints of post-modernism and post-colonialism, and the theory of space and region.
Under the baptism of Western literature, Chen Li’s language is polished, outstanding, and appealing. The imagery in his poetry, which exhibits rich variety and diversity, is the secret weapon he possesses to establish himself as one of the most prominent contemporary poets of Taiwan. His prose style is plain but sincere. He has the talent of transforming trivial daily incidents into extraordinary touching stories. The spirit of regionalism and western literary concepts are well blended in Chen Li’s poetry and prose.
At the edge of the island Chen Li, a child indulged in his mother’s love, writes about his hometown’s nature and culture, truthfully depicting its beauty and imperfection. In Haulien, Chen Li is a critic who hammers on the mundane world. While looking back on the history of Taiwan and Hualien, he ponders over the significance of this island in this world. Through writing, he vividly bridges the barrier between the edge (Hualien卅Taiwan) and the center (Taipei卅world), and offers his readers a much broader perspective of literature.
Chen Li, a magician of words, exposes under his white handkerchief a fantastic and amazing writing space of Huelien. | en_US |