Taiwanese literature movement
Encyclopedia
The Taiwanese literature movement (also Taiwan literature movement, Nativist literature movement) refers to the effort of authors, poets, dramatists, musicians, and publishers in Taiwan
to establish recognition of a distinctly Taiwanese body of literature. The movement was the subject of considerable international as well as domestic debate in the 1970s and 1980s.
Authors saw that much of the history and tradition of the island was being ignored or suppressed in government-sponsored education. In their work they sought to carry forward this distinct Taiwanese cultural identity that existed apart from the colonizing efforts of China and Japan. Just as their predecessors in the 1920s had incurred official sanction from the Imperial Japanese government then ruling the island, authors in this new movement worked against the bans imposed by the authoritarian Kuomintang
regime and were targeted for criticism by the Communist government in China
. The movement is closely associated with the emergence of Taiwan's democracy
in the 1990s. Figures associated with the Taiwanese literature movement include:
Authors sought to gain acceptance for the Taiwanese Hokkien language along with other languages encountered on the island (aboriginal
languages and Hakka
). These, the mother tongues of the majority of the island's natives, became in their hands the vehicles for serious literature, including essays, plays, and epic poetry. They made the island itself the center of their perspective on history and looked to local traditions and lore as fuel for creative ideas.
An example may be seen in the 1994 poem "If You Would Ask" by Lee Min-yung. The poem adopts the point of view of a Taiwan aborigine speaking to all the island's newer residents.
If you ask
Who is the father of the island of Taiwan
I will tell you
The sky is the father of the island of Taiwan
If you ask
Who is the mother of the island of Taiwan
I will tell you
The ocean is the mother of the island of Taiwan
If you ask
What is the past of the island of Taiwan
I will tell you
Blood and tears drop on the feet of the history of Taiwan
If you ask
What is the present of the island of Taiwan
I will tell you
Corruption in power is eroding the Taiwanese soul
If you ask
What is the future of the island of Taiwan
I will tell you
Step out on your feet, the road is open to you.
(Translation: Joyce Huang)
Native sources and unacknowledged island history were not the only influences. Authors drew inspiration from a number of literary figures abroad: Poland's Zbigniew Herbert
and Czesław Miłosz; Czech poets Jaroslav Seifert
, Antonin Bartusek and Miroslav Holub
; Russia's Joseph Brodsky
; France's André Gide
and Paul Valéry
; Turkey's Nizim Hikmet, Japan's Tamura Ryuichi
.
The Taiwanese literature movement inspired a flowering of books, songs, and theater pieces using Taiwanese, Hakka and Taiwan aboriginal forms of expression that continues today. Taiwan's universities today offer recognize the languages and works championed by the movement as major fields of study.
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
to establish recognition of a distinctly Taiwanese body of literature. The movement was the subject of considerable international as well as domestic debate in the 1970s and 1980s.
Authors saw that much of the history and tradition of the island was being ignored or suppressed in government-sponsored education. In their work they sought to carry forward this distinct Taiwanese cultural identity that existed apart from the colonizing efforts of China and Japan. Just as their predecessors in the 1920s had incurred official sanction from the Imperial Japanese government then ruling the island, authors in this new movement worked against the bans imposed by the authoritarian Kuomintang
Kuomintang
The Kuomintang of China , sometimes romanized as Guomindang via the Pinyin transcription system or GMD for short, and translated as the Chinese Nationalist Party is a founding and ruling political party of the Republic of China . Its guiding ideology is the Three Principles of the People, espoused...
regime and were targeted for criticism by the Communist government in China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
. The movement is closely associated with the emergence of Taiwan's democracy
Democracy
Democracy is generally defined as a form of government in which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law...
in the 1990s. Figures associated with the Taiwanese literature movement include:
- Lee Min-yung
- Tseng Kuei-hi
- Yang-Min LinYang-Min LinYang-Min Lin is a Taiwanese author and poet. Lin's body of work totals over twenty published volumes of novels, short stories, poems, essays and criticism. His Rouge Tears, a poem of 110,000 words set in 9,000 lines, is the first epic poem to be written in Taiwanese...
- Wu Ying-tao
- Lin Chi-yang (pen name: Xiang Yang)
- Tyzen HsiaoTyzen HsiaoTyzen Hsiao is a Taiwanese composer of the neo-Romantic school. Many of his vocal works set poems written in Taiwanese, the mother tongue of the majority of the island's residents. His compositions stand as a musical manifestation of the Taiwanese literature movement that revitalized the island's...
(composer) - Li Kuei-HsienLi Kuei-HsienLi Kuei-Hsien is a Taiwanese author and poet. He began writing poems in 1953 upon his graduation from the Taipei Institute of Technology. He is noted for writing extended verse in Taiwanese Hokkien and represents an influential figure in the Taiwanese literature movement. Li's work today appears in...
Authors sought to gain acceptance for the Taiwanese Hokkien language along with other languages encountered on the island (aboriginal
Taiwanese aborigines
Taiwanese aborigines is the term commonly applied in reference to the indigenous peoples of Taiwan. Although Taiwanese indigenous groups hold a variety of creation myths, recent research suggests their ancestors may have been living on the islands for approximately 8,000 years before major Han...
languages and Hakka
Hakka
The Hakka , sometimes Hakka Han, are Han Chinese who speak the Hakka language and have links to the provincial areas of Guangdong, Jiangxi, Guangxi, Sichuan, Hunan and Fujian in China....
). These, the mother tongues of the majority of the island's natives, became in their hands the vehicles for serious literature, including essays, plays, and epic poetry. They made the island itself the center of their perspective on history and looked to local traditions and lore as fuel for creative ideas.
An example may be seen in the 1994 poem "If You Would Ask" by Lee Min-yung. The poem adopts the point of view of a Taiwan aborigine speaking to all the island's newer residents.
If you ask
Who is the father of the island of Taiwan
I will tell you
The sky is the father of the island of Taiwan
If you ask
Who is the mother of the island of Taiwan
I will tell you
The ocean is the mother of the island of Taiwan
If you ask
What is the past of the island of Taiwan
I will tell you
Blood and tears drop on the feet of the history of Taiwan
If you ask
What is the present of the island of Taiwan
I will tell you
Corruption in power is eroding the Taiwanese soul
If you ask
What is the future of the island of Taiwan
I will tell you
Step out on your feet, the road is open to you.
(Translation: Joyce Huang)
Native sources and unacknowledged island history were not the only influences. Authors drew inspiration from a number of literary figures abroad: Poland's Zbigniew Herbert
Zbigniew Herbert
Zbigniew Herbert was an influential Polish poet, essayist, drama writer, author of plays, and moralist. A member of the Polish resistance movement – Home Army during World War II, he is one of the best known and the most translated post-war Polish writers...
and Czesław Miłosz; Czech poets Jaroslav Seifert
Jaroslav Seifert
Jaroslav Seifert was a Nobel Prize winning Czech writer, poet and journalist.Born in Žižkov, a suburb of Prague in what was then part of Austria-Hungary, his first collection of poems was published in 1921...
, Antonin Bartusek and Miroslav Holub
Miroslav Holub
Miroslav Holub was a Czech poet and immunologist.Miroslav Holub's work was heavily influenced by his experiences as an Immunologist, writing many poems using his scientific knowledge to poetic effect. His work is almost always unrhymed, so lends itself easily to translation...
; Russia's Joseph Brodsky
Joseph Brodsky
Iosif Aleksandrovich Brodsky , was a Russian poet and essayist.In 1964, 23-year-old Brodsky was arrested and charged with the crime of "social parasitism" He was expelled from the Soviet Union in 1972 and settled in America with the help of W. H. Auden and other supporters...
; France's André Gide
André Gide
André Paul Guillaume Gide was a French author and winner of the Nobel Prize in literature in 1947. Gide's career ranged from its beginnings in the symbolist movement, to the advent of anticolonialism between the two World Wars.Known for his fiction as well as his autobiographical works, Gide...
and Paul Valéry
Paul Valéry
Ambroise-Paul-Toussaint-Jules Valéry was a French poet, essayist, and philosopher. His interests were sufficiently broad that he can be classified as a polymath...
; Turkey's Nizim Hikmet, Japan's Tamura Ryuichi
Tamura Ryuichi
was a Japanese poet, essayist and translator of English language novels and poetry who was active during the Showa period of Japan.-Biography:Tamura was born in what is now Sugamo, Tokyo, and was a graduate of the Literature Department of Meiji University, where he met a group of young poets...
.
The Taiwanese literature movement inspired a flowering of books, songs, and theater pieces using Taiwanese, Hakka and Taiwan aboriginal forms of expression that continues today. Taiwan's universities today offer recognize the languages and works championed by the movement as major fields of study.
See also
- Yang-Min LinYang-Min LinYang-Min Lin is a Taiwanese author and poet. Lin's body of work totals over twenty published volumes of novels, short stories, poems, essays and criticism. His Rouge Tears, a poem of 110,000 words set in 9,000 lines, is the first epic poem to be written in Taiwanese...
, author - Tyzen HsiaoTyzen HsiaoTyzen Hsiao is a Taiwanese composer of the neo-Romantic school. Many of his vocal works set poems written in Taiwanese, the mother tongue of the majority of the island's residents. His compositions stand as a musical manifestation of the Taiwanese literature movement that revitalized the island's...
, composer - "Taiwan the FormosaTaiwan the FormosaTaiwan the Formosa is a poem written by Taiwanese poet and clergyman Tīⁿ Jî-gio̍k , set to music between 1988 and 1993 by neo-Romantic Taiwanese composer Tyzen Hsiao...
" - Ilha Formosa RequiemIlha Formosa: Requiem for Formosa's MartyrsIlha Formosa: Requiem for Formosa's Martyrs ' is a composition for solo soprano, solo baritone, chorus and orchestra composed by Taiwanese composer Tyzen Hsiao...
- Taiwanese localization movementTaiwanese localization movementTaiwanization , also known as the Taiwanese localization movement, is a political term used in Taiwan to emphasize the importance of a separate Taiwanese culture rather than to regard Taiwan as solely an appendage of China...
- Taiwan independenceTaiwan independenceTaiwan independence is a political movement whose goals are primarily to formally establish the Republic of Taiwan by renaming or replacing the Republic of China , form a Taiwanese national identity, reject unification and One country, two systems with the People's Republic of China and a Chinese...
- Written HokkienWritten HokkienHokkien, a Min Nan variety of Chinese spoken in Southeastern China, Taiwan and Southeast Asia, does not have a standardized writing system, in comparison with the well-developed written forms of Cantonese and Mandarin. Since there is no official standardizing body for Hokkien, there are a wide...