| Modern Taiwanese literature, from the 1921 satirical parodies of classical texts to the realistic phase throughout the 1930s, was closely related to social and political movements against Japanese colonial rule.;Chapter Two discusses the vernacular era in which the New Literature Movement from China was introduced into Taiwan. Articles advocating the use of the vernacular language began to appear in T'ai-wan min-pao, the sole journal under Taiwanese control, along with short stories, poetry and plays from China. Precursors to Taiwan's first vernacular fiction were close imitations of early romantic May Fourth fiction in style and theme.;Chapter Three introduces Lai Ho, who, as the pioneer of Taiwanese vernacular fiction, made the central concern of his literature social and political injustice in colonial Taiwan. Lai Ho emphasized socially engaged literature and rejected some of the models of May Fourth Literature from China. Under his influence, hsiang-t'u (homeland) literature, which closely described the manners, mores, and social realities of the local region, became the dominant current in the 1930s.;Chapter Four discusses the debate over the relationship of fiction to its environment and of the language appropriate for that fiction, and the literary societies and journals founded in the 1930s which served as forums for that debate.;Chapter One discusses the traditional era in which political concerns took precedence over consideration for stylistic innovation. Writers used the classical language and parodied traditional forms such as The Four Books, classical poems and travelogues to propagate their political message.;Chapter Five discusses the representative forms of fiction, which moved from satirical portraits of the police and gentry and buoyant romantic realism to social realism tinged with naturalism, finally ending with cynical and ironic portraits of defeated, frustrated reformers and self-deluded men. During the war years, fiction reverted to traditional themes of filial piety and service to the state.;Chapter Six concludes that as the political and social climate changed, a progression in fictional modes from romantic to mimetic to ironic is discernible. Fiction in the war years represented a return to traditional themes in which the individual was no longer of central concern. |
