The Research On The Canonization Process Of Pai Hsien-yung’s Novels

Canonization has received lots of attention from scholars and is considered as one of the most important questions in modern literature.Pai Hsien-yung,the leader of the post-war modernist literature movement in Taiwan,completed the canonization process in Taiwan’s literature circle as the first step,and then became one of the most classic writers in the view of Mainland’s common readers and literary critics after the reform and opening-up policy.It is proposed that the canon formation is motivated by the co-effect of multiple mechanisms and discourses on the basis of analyzing this cross-contextual canonization process.By adopting Bourdieu’s field theory as the theoretical approach,this paper divided the canonization process of Pai Hsien-yung’s novels into four stages: appearance in literature circle,canonization in critics,canonization in common readers and construction of multiple literary history genealogy.First,the article explored the historical changes in Taiwan’s post-war literature field and further discussed the motivation of Pai Hsien-yung’s appearance and reason that he chose modernism as the writing strategy.It is found that the decolonization policy and the change of language environments were the prerequisites for Pai Hsien-yung’s appearance,and the redistribution of symbolic capital in the literature field determined that he must embrace modernist aesthetics.Second,it is suggested that the canonization in critics is motivated by literati intercourse,resonant topic of homesickness,and the popularity of nouvelle critique approach.Third,this article discussed the canonization in common readers and proposed three major motivations: de-vanguard of modernism literature,popularity of film and television adaptation,and the traditional elements in Pai’s work.In the end,the completion of Pai’s canonization is urged by the interaction between the genealogy construction of Pai’s work in different literary histories.In a word,this paper conducted a systematic analysis of Pai Hsien-yung’s canonization process and proposed comprehensive account for the involved motivations.