48. Good Writing, Bad Writing

Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter i
2. Contents v
3. Acknowledgments xxiii
4. Introduction: Literary Taiwan—An East Asian Contextual Perspective 1
5. Part I. The Beginnings and Entry Into Modernity Through Colonial Mediation (1728–1948)
6. Introduction 37
7. 1. Preface to Volume 1 of Jade Ruler Between Sky and Sea 39
8. 2. Preface to Collection of Coral Branches 40
9. 3. Preface Number 5 (by the Author) 41
10. 4. Ars Poetica (Mid-nineteenth Century 42
11. 5. Elucidating the Meaning of Literature 42
12. 6. Congratulations on the Founding of the Taiwan Literary Society 44
13. 7. On the New Mission to Promote Vernacular Writing 45
14. 8. On Reforming Classical Chinese 48
15. 9. A Letter to the Youth of Taiwan 50
16. 10. The Awful Literary Scene of Taiwan 51
17. 11. On Reading “A Comparison of Old and New Literature” in the Taiwan Daily News 54
18. 12. Diary 56
19. 13. Advance 57
20. 14. The Solitary Spirits League and the Anarchist Theater Movement 59
21. 15. Why Not Promote Nativist Literature? 63
22. 16. Annotation on Three-Six-Nine Little Gazette 66
23. 17. A Proposal on the Construction of Taiwanese Vernacular Writing 67
24. 18. On Reforming the Taiwanese Vernacular 70
25. 19. The Prospect of Popular Literature 72
26. 20. A Giant Bomb on the Old Poetry Scene 73
27. 21. Elegant Words 74
28. 22. Absolute Objection to Nativist Literature Written in the Taiwanese Vernacular 76
29. 23. On Taiwan’s Nativist Literature 79
30. 24. Burning Hair—the Rites of Poetry 80
31. 25. Writing on the Wall 83
32. 26. Manifesto 83
33. 27. Foreword: Understanding Folk Literature 85
34. 28. Art Belongs to the People 87
35. 29. The Historical Mission of Taiwan Literary Arts 89
36. 30. Miscellaneous Thoughts on Literature—Two Types of Atmosphere 94
37. 31. Poetry Snippets: On Highbrow 96
38. 32. Preface to Mountain Spirit 97
39. 33. Youth and Taiwan (II): Ideal and Reality of the New Drama Movement 98
40. 34. A Chat with the Governor-General About Discontinuing Chinese Columns in Daily Newspapers 103
41. 35. Why Can’t Taiwan’s Art Scene Advance? 105
42. 36. Criticism and Guidance Welcomed 106
43. 37. On the Future of Taiwanese Literature 108
44. 38. The Prospect of Taiwanese Literature 109
45. 39. The Past, Present, and Future of Taiwanese Literature 111
46. 40. On Building a Literary Scene in Taiwan 117
47. 41. Diary (1942–1944) 121
48. 42. Responsibility of the Literati on the Island 124
49. 43. Taiwanese Theater in the Current Stage of Development 126
50. 44. A Conversation on Taiwanese Culture 129
51. 45. A Commentary on Current Literature 134
52. 46. Kuso Realism and Pseudo-Romanticism 135
53. 47. An Open Letter to Mr. Shiwai Min 138
54. 48. Good Writing, Bad Writing 139
55. 49. In Defense of Kuso Realism 141
56. 50. The Thorny Road Continues 143
57. 51. Our Propositions 144
58. 52. The Path of Bridge—Report on the Second Writers’ Gathering 150
59. 53. Questions and Answers Concerning Taiwanese Literature 156
60. Part II. Wading Through the Cold War Under Martial Law (1949–1987)
61. Introduction 159
62. 1. Inaugural Preface to Literary Creation 161
63. 2. Declaration 163
64. 3. Inaugural Preface to Military Literature: Establishing a Modernized, Populist, Revolutionary, and Combative National Literature 164
65. 4. Poetry Is Poetry; Song Is Song; We Do Not Say “Poem-Song” 166
66. 5. Explicating the Tenets of the Modernist School 167
67. 6. To the Reader 169
68. 7. A Critique of Peng Ge’s Setting Moon and a Discussion of the Modern Novel 171
69. 8. Newsletter of Literary Friends: Correspondence Between Zhong Zhaozheng and Zhong Lihe 174
70. 9. Notes from the Editors of Epoch Poetry Quarterly 178
71. 10. On Symbolist Poetry and Chinese New Poetry: A Rejoinder to Professor Su Xuelin 179
72. 11. Five Years Later 184
73. 12. To the Poet Ya Xian 185
74. 13. Random Talk on New Poetry No. 4: Whither It Goes? 186
75. 14. Taiwanese Writers Whose Works Burst with Local Color 188
76. 15. Notes of a Poet 189
77. 16. Introduction to Modern Literature 191
78. 17. One Year of Modern Literature 193
79. 18. Preface to Selected Poems of the 1960s 195
80. 19. On Yu Guangzhong’s Sirius the Dog Star 198
81. 20. Goodbye, Nihilism! 199
82. 21. Preface to the Japanese edition of The Orphan of Asia 202
83. 22. An Open Letter to Guo Lianghui 204
84. 23. An Announcement from the Chinese Writers Association 206
85. 24. I Do Not Value The Locked Heart and Membership in the Writers Association 208
86. 25. Cutting Off the Prose Braids 211
87. 26. Lower the Flag to Half-Mast for May Fourth! 214
88. 27. Message from the Editors 217
89. 28. Postscript to Carefree Wandering 219
90. 29. Toward a New Departure in Modernism: Thoughts on the Recent Production of Waiting for Godot 220
91. 30. The Girl with Long Black Hair: The Author’s Preface 222
92. 31. The Evolution of Modern Poetry in Taiwan 224
93. 32. Epigraph to the Inaugural Issue 226
94. 33. On the Predicament of Modern Chinese Poets 226
95. 34. On the Special Issue of Retrospect 229
96. 35. Not Our Paradise 231
97. 36. Benchmarks in Fiction Criticism: Reading Tang Jisong’s “Autumn Leaves by Ouyang Zi” 235
98. 37. Qideng Sheng’s “Polio” Style 240
99. 38. Take Pains to Read, Take Care to Evaluate Family Catastrophe 242
100. 39. Looking Forward to a New Kind of Literature 247
101. 40. Two Kinds of Spirit in Taiwanese Literature: A Comparison of Yang Kui and Zhong Lihe 248
102. 41. Author’s Preface 253
103. 42. She Is a True Student of China: On Reading Zhang Ailing on Reading 254
104. 43. Should the Ban on May Fourth and 1930s Writings Be Lifted? 255
105. 44. Grassroots Manifesto 259
106. 45. The Past Decade of Taiwanese Literature (1965–1975)—with Remarks on Wang Wenxing’s Family Catastrophe 262
107. 46. The Pursuit and Disappearance of Utopia 267
108. 47. Random Thoughts: Author’s Preface 271
109. 48. Starting from the Flaws of Taipei People: On the Method and Practice of Literary Criticism 272
110. 49. Looking Back 275
111. 50. Preface to Three-Three Journal 279
112. 51. It Is Realist Literature, Not Nativist Literature— A Historical Analysis of Nativist Literature 280
113. 52. Introduction to the History of Nativist Literature in Taiwan 284
114. 53. The Blind Spot of Nativist Literature 289
115. 54. Where Is Literature Without Human Nature? 293
116. 55. Xiangtu Wenxue: Its Merits and Demerits 297
117. 56. Impressions Gleaned from the Conference on Literary Arts Organized by the Armed Forces: The Bugle of Unity 305
118. 57. Notes on the Publication of Essays on Nativist Literature 307
119. 58. Two Types of Literary Mind: On Two Short Stories That Won the United Daily Fiction Contest 310
120. 59. Ten Years of Flowing River 314
121. 60. Foreword to Anthology of the Modern Chinese Essay 320
122. 61. Preface to Thirty Eventful Years: The Predicament Facing the Newspaper Literary Supplement in Taiwan at Present and a Way Out 322
123. 62. Looking Back at the Chinese Literary Arts Association 327
124. 63. Taiwan Consciousness of the Taiwanese People 329
125. 64. Influence and Response! From Concern, Engagement, and Action to “We Have Only One Earth” 331
126. 65. Footprints, Sort Of: Superfluous Words on the Launch of the Newsletter of Literary Friends 333
127. 66. Eternal Quest (in Lieu of a Preface) 338
128. 67. The Question of Nativization in Taiwanese Literature at the Present Stage 343
129. 68. House of Salt—by Way of Introduction 346
130. 69. Flaws and Mercy—Preface to The Mulberry Sea 350
131. 70. The Translingual Generation of Poets: Beginning with the Silver Bell Society 352
132. 71. Heralding a Taiwanese Dawn: Introducing Lin Shuangbu, Novelist of the New Generation, and Appraising Taiwan’s Enfeebled Fiction 354
133. 72. Sacrificing a Life to Literature Is Nothing to Boast About 359
134. 73. A Painful Confession 362
135. 74. Something Out of Nothing: On Improvisation and Theater 368
136. Part III. The Era of Democracy and Globalization (1987–2005)
137. Introduction 375
138. 1. Preface to Series in Contemporary Mainland Chinese Writers: Replies to Inquiries 377
139. 2. Coming Together for a Long Journey Ahead: Celebrating the Birth of the Taipei Theater Fellowship 379
140. 3. Preface to Heteroglossia 381
141. 4. Writing a Literature with a Nationality 382
142. 5. Recovering Our Names 384
143. 6. Preface to Complete Works of Taiwanese Writers 385
144. 7. If the Poets Don’t Die, the Thieves Won’t Quit1: The Predicament of Taiwan’s Poetry Scene and How to Resolve It 388
145. 8. She Waves the Flag: Preface to Ping Lu’s New Collection Who Killed XXX? 391
146. 9. Diary 393
147. 10. Literature of the Military Family Village: The Inheritance and Abandonment of Homesickness 395
148. 11. Discovering a New Taiwan: On Wang Qimei’s Collage 400
149. 12. Inaugural Editorial of the Taiwanese Poetics Quarterly 402
150. 13. The World of Mountains and Seas: Preface to the Inaugural Issue of the Culture of Mountains and Seas Bimonthly 403
151. 14. Who Is Going to Wear My Beautiful Knit Dress? 404
152. 15. Summer Mist 406
153. 16. Postscript to On the Island’s Edge 408
154. 17. On Ku’er: Reflections on Ku’er and Ku’er Literature in Contemporary Taiwan 409
155. 18. Preface: Just Who Is the Devil with a Chastity Belt? 412
156. 19. Wandering in Gods’ Garden (in Lieu of a Preface) 414
157. 20. Saving a Boatload of Starlight: The Story of How Mr. Wang Tiwu Gave Financial Assistance to Young Writers 417
158. 21. The Activist Character of the Literary Supplement to the United Daily 419
159. 22. Newspaper Literary Supplements and the Nobel Prize in Literature: A Personal Reflection 422
160. 23. On Bai 425
161. 24. Retrospect on Thirty Years of Taiwan Literary Arts 427
162. 25. Foreword II: On Taiwan’s Literary Canon 431
163. 26. To the Reader: Preface to the Unitas Edition of Complete Works of Luo Zhicheng 433
164. 27. Broken Chinese and Good Work 434
165. 28. Like a Road Sign That Looks Ahead and Behind: Introduction to Compendium of Taiwanese-language Literature 436
166. 29. The Brave New World of the Mother Tongue: Taiwanese-language Literature Under Construction 440
167. 30. A Flower Recalls Its Previous Incarnation: Remembering Zhang Ailing and Hu Lancheng 442
168. 31. The Mysterious Revelations of Nature Writing 446
169. 32. Building a Bridge for Taiwanese Literature: Foreword to the Newsletter of the National Museum of Taiwan Literature 448
170. 33. A Perspective on Prose 450
171. 34. My Story of the Chinese Language—Roaming 450
172. 35. A First Step Out of “Migration Literature” 457
173. 36. Hakka Literature, Literary Hakka 460
174. 37. The End of the Military Family Village 462
175. 38. Interview with Wu He 463
176. 39. Zhang Xiaofeng on Prose 473
177. 40. Preface to the New Edition of Born Under the Twelfth Star Sign 475
178. 41. Ocean Tide Loves Me Best: A Dialogue Between Sun Dachuan and Xiaman Lanpoan 476
179. Glossary 483
180. Selected Bibliography 509
181. Notes on the Translators 519
182. Notes on the Authors 527
183. Index 541