Illuminate The History In Shadow

In modern times, nations have gradually become the principal part of history, thus nationalism becomes an important portion of modernity. Historical consciousness of the modern society is irrefragably dominated by the "nation-country" pattern. In the field of literature research, it's unimaginable to compile the whole history of national literature, because it is constructed on the base of materials that are in nature "non-literal". It demands us to take in serious consideration those factors such as national ethics, nature of the nation and the incorporate state of "nation-country", which in fact have little to do literature and arts.Literary research of Taiwan, including its idealistic source, concerning problems and important views, etc, is not totally decided by the need of the subject itself. A systemic political theory employed to assure the wholeness of a nation also is effective in guiding the theory of literary research of Taiwan. For Taiwan literature, there is no need to doubt its characteristics of being rich and pluralistic. Political factors behind it, however, make Taiwan literature more complex. In this way, Taiwan literature cannot be simply cataloged as pure literature in form. For instance, Chen Ying-zhen, a writer in Taiwan, is more often regarded, in an abstract way, as a "political symbol" of literary field of Taiwan and of China, even of the academic world. Either those who are for or against the idea that Taiwan is part of China has quoted from Chen's statement and theory, according to need. They have not, however, really seen the tiny, yet concrete fact and experience of this "symbol", nor have they truly caught a light of his thought that had grown and developed along with Taiwan literature in the past half century.In general, this essay with the clue of time traces the source of Chen Ying-zhen's thoughts and its series of activities in Taiwan's culture circle, and takes apart the real attitudes towards different social issues in Taiwan, which are hidden behind Chen's strategic sayings. Chen means to take out the element "form" and "technique" from Modernism by the criticism toward modern literature. Chen brought modern literature prevailed in 1960s in Taiwan into Modernism in order to foreshadow for demonstrating the internal relation between Taiwan's literature and China's left wing literature in 1930s. In the controversy of local literature, Chen did not advocate the parlance of "local literature", but still banged the drum for it in the gesture of skipper. He utmost...