| dc.description.abstract | In the novels written by Shi Zhicun, Mu Shiying, Wu Yongfu and Weng Nao, who were influenced by the Japanese Neo Sensation School, we can often notice the rural imagery in the urban setting. This paper will present the urban and rural imagery in the Neo Sensation novels in China and Taiwan to enable the discussion between Shanghai International Settlement and Colonial Taiwan in the 1930s.
In Chapter 2 and 3, we will have an initial analysis of the urban and rural imagery in the Neo Sensation novels in China and Taiwan. The similarities and differences between them will then be discussed in Chapter 4. Finally, in Chapter 5, the paper will conclude from the perspective of “alternative modernity” to re-examine the localization and the significance of the Japanese Neo Sensation School in in China and Taiwan.
In the Neo Sensation novels in China, we can observe the emergence of “aesthetic modernity” and the resistance of civilization. The relatively firm nationality standpoint of the Chinese writers and the freedom of speech in Shanghai International Settlement both make the novels more left-wing. Shi Zhicun and Mu Shiying take on the writing style of Neo Sensation in their novels with the countryside as the background, displaying a unique writing style that mixes the modernism with the realism.
As for the Neo Sensational Novels in Taiwan, they are filled with “enlightening modernity”, which tends to worship the progress of science and technology. Thereby, they unconsicously fall into the binary opposition of “civilized Japan vs uncivilized Taiwan”. Situated in a time of cultural rupture caused by Japanese colonization in Taiwan, their novels are full of reflections on national belonging. The Taiwan image which is shaped in Wu’s and Weng’s novels with the background of the countryside in Taiwan can perfectly explain the “colonized” perspective and the resisted but lingering call of the homeland hidden in their novels with Tokyo city as the background. | en_US |