| Summary: | 博士 === 國立清華大學 === 中國文學系 === 93 === This study focuses on the style of kuei-shui (閨秀) Chinese Literature as the core topic of discussion among three related concepts: their style, the literature, and the writers. Examining selected relevant literature, along with this research itself, the researcher will infer and analyze the phenomenon of kuei-shui (閨秀) literature and assist in its cultural establishment and literary mechanisms.
The first chapter discusses the scriptural theories of women of Chinese literature context. In the classical era, social identities presumed for women writers included “talented (or gifted) kuei-shiu (閨秀)women,” “talented, famed harlots”; and these identities were coined into “modern female writers,” that was what they were referred to by the lower cultural class in the Chinese New Literature domain.
In the literature review in the second chapter, the researcher perceives the historical narratives of women’s literature from four different angles: “family trees,” “genders,” “fields,” and “origins.” The first two angles (“family trees” and “genders”) establish the historical narratives of women’s literature, and are combined with the discussion of feminist Chinese literature and the writers reviewed. From the angles of “fields” and “origins,” the researcher develops in depth the topic of kuei-shui (閨秀) women, thereby points out how it has an adjunct literature framework and the feature lacking kuei-shui (閨秀) writers in the literature system.
The research discusses the style of feminist Chinese literature from two angles: its historical derivation (ramifications) and the interactions within such literature framework.
I.The Historical Derivation (Ramifications) of Feminist Chinese Literature
The third chapter lays out the history of Feminist Chinese Literature and expounds its historic developments neglected by the academe up until this day. Looking at kuei-shiu (閨秀)expressions in retrospect became what is referred to as historical tracing in genre denotation, the labeling put on writers, and the status-allocating in literature.
In the 1920s and 1930s kuei-shiu (閨秀) writer Bing Xin(冰心) was criticized in the literary world in China, with its rise of literary realism; while she was widely acclaimed in Taiwan. Continuators such as those in the 1950s, Chi-Chun(琦君) and Shiu-Ya Chang(張秀亞), were perceived to have similar writing styles as that of Bing Xin’s. In the 1950s and 1960s the “housewife” style was derived from the kuei-shiu (閨秀) style; and, advancing into the 1920s and 1930s, evolving from the separate images of male “writers” and female “ordinary people” into the disclosure of daily activities in pieces of works. These bits and pieces are illustrated with elegance, not eluding female identities in realistic writings. In turn, the boundary between “writer” and “ordinary person” is confounded. In the 1980s the Shan Shan Literature Group is about a woman, under the influence of activism, claiming herself to be a nationalist (savior of the nation) and summoning three thousand men. In the story the element of one’s love for his/her country and love for another is combined, revealing a kind of patriotism that is pure and naïve. The reason this was called “feminist literature” is the mixture of two narrative elements: the immaculate-teenage-girlish one and the romanticized nationalist one. This book uses the rhetorical strategies that were used in classical poetry long ago, which features the “boudoir-bitter,” tradition-implied politics in the lovesick-wife (思婦文本)and vanilla-beauty(香草美人) elements. In these literatures feminist writers were aware of their own patriotism-lacking complexes, therefore they substitute their romantic mentality in order to illustrate romanticized-patriot stories with such extreme fervor.
Here the researcher discovers that kuei-shiu (閨秀) is a multi-meaning term. As time changes, the implications for this expression also change. In this research, in order to observe the changing phenomenon that takes place in literature, the term is persistently used to refer to a literature genre and style. However, derived from the original term, the implications made here vastly differs that of the earliest kuei-shiu (閨秀) style, which uses “boudoir bitterness” as their subject.
The discussions about kuei-shiu (閨秀) literature were concentrated a decade (from 1976 to 1986) before the lift of the Martial Law, and this period was known as the Period of Feminist Literature in the literary world. The fourth chapter responds to the proposals for this history of literature. The researcher divides these ten years into the earlier politics-dominated period from 1976 to 1982 and the later period dominated by the business markets from 1983 to 1986. In the earlier period the Shan Shan(三三) Literature Group, which was closely associated with kuei-shiu (閨秀) style, had political differences in their literature with the existing government at the time and was thus indirectly involved in the Nativist Literature Movement(鄉土文學運動). Kuei-Fen Chiu(邱貴芬) believes the female writers in the Feminist Literature Period had a mixture of ideals that were originated from natives of Mainland China. In the later period those returning from abroad brought home with them and initiated the westernized modern enlightenment, introspecting the Chinese romanticized style and the “good-natured gentleness”(溫柔敦厚) theory in Chinese culture brought out by its symbiotic relationship with kuei-shiu (閨秀) style. With literature awards and the prevalence of kuei-shiu (閨秀) style in the business market, Cheng-Hui Lu (呂正惠) criticized female writers feigning immaculate ideals. Chiu and Lu’s debate over their different theories is the result of misunderstanding of the two periods (earlier and later) in the Feminist Literature Period.
II.Interactions within the Overall Literature Framework
If the researcher defines the Feminist Literature Period with the literature styles chosen by literature awards, we disprove Kuei-Fen Chiu’s(邱貴芬) assumption that it lasted until the lift of the Martial Law (1986) with the following reason. Female writers continued receiving accolades in 1983. However, two writers who won the United Daily News literature award, which supported the kuei-shiu style, were Anti-Feminist Ang Li (李昂)and Hui-Ying Liao(廖輝英), whose works have very little feminist qualities. Despite the aforementioned, those “mediocre” works that possess kuei-shiu (閨秀) styles were continuously supported by highly educated female literators.
The researcher first discovers that the half-a-century-old kuei-shiu (閨秀) style’s romantic aesthetics existed with the “good-natured gentleness” (溫柔敦厚)theory in Chinese culture. The structure and imagery of the “good-natured gentleness” (溫柔敦厚)theory is related to the struggle for balance between eastern and western powers. With the literature framework being the cofactor, the politically influenced, romantic Taiwanese literature is brought to form. Although this romanticized Taiwanese literature style is only mentioned in feminist literature or among female writers, in the overall structure of Taiwanese literature and the standards of civil disobedience, kuei-shiu (閨秀)literature is often a neglected part. In other words, in literature emphasizing Taiwanese nativist ideals, this genre of female works is unvalued and is rather distant from being seriously considered a significant place in literature. In literary criticism influenced by feminism, kuei-shiu (閨秀) literature is thought to represent women that lack self-awareness. The researcher believes that, while the emphasis is placed on trying to find female self-awareness topics within these works, the critics overlook the seemingly rebellious nature that is prominent in discussing female literature. Another possibility is the neglect of narratives about the inside of homes while emphasizing the rebelliousness of nationalist stories. Either way creates a gap in the framework of literature history.
To recapture kuei-shiu (閨秀)literature through aesthetics, one will find classic qualities in its forms, which is often seen as traditional and conservative; while the immaculateness is considered to be ignorance. These perceptions dominate the basic understanding leftists or westernized idealists have for this type of literature. Critics compare females, the entire population, males, and elites; and give females the stereotype that they are ignorant and immaculate. Another assumption is the use of the opposing realism as the only “family tree” in Taiwanese literature, setting a target whether it is the Japanese occupation period through the 1980s, and let the “creator” be the great narrative of the pursuit for the national race. In that case, we should respect “Taiwanese ideologies.” To pursue gender freedom, we should have certain “feminine awareness” and gradually move forward. The status-oriented social values are questioned, because the development of a father’s power appears in kuei-shiu (閨秀)literature. With nostalgia facing the future, the literature form that connects romantic China is also considered expired and conservative by westernized thinkers.
After the discussion of the historical derivation and the contributions of kuei-shiu (閨秀) style, chapter five presents two pieces of literature for supporting evidence.
I.Tien-Wen Chu’s (朱天文)Growing Up
The narrator in this story is a female with immaculate-teenage-girl qualities that is also actively patriotic—pure innocence cultivated from living in a chuan tsun (眷村，“residential military community”). The story is integrated into the early 1980s’ romanticized-patriot style. However, the novel’s kuei-shiu (閨秀)style is created by a group of writers. Therefore, classical rhetorical strategies are replaced by the tone in literature films. The additions in the film version take the advantage of kuei-shiu (閨秀) style—the narrative of a girl’s life—and transform it into a teenage boy’s life story. Moreover, taking away the differences between the environment in a residential military community and nativist backgrounds, it became a popular Taiwanese-teenage-life story and a best-seller.
II.Li-Hung Hsiao’s A Thousand Moons on a Thousand Rivers
The author had her book translated into various foreign languages and observed the responses audiences abroad had for kuei-shiu (閨秀) style, the good-natured and gentle ethnic characteristics, and the exotic settings.
The original kuei-shiu (閨秀) style exhibits classical rhetorical strategies, re-presents qualities of immaculate teenage girls. At the same time, it alludes patriotism, promotes tradition, romanticism, and ethnicism. In the translation system in Taiwan, because of its emotional ethnic expression of feelings, it is considered one of the classics of Taiwanese literature. However, through translation, one cannot show the enormous differences used in Chinese rhetorical strategies and the imitation of euphemized Taiwanese in folklores. Unfortunately, readers of the English version can only observe the unique traditional ethnic attributes depicted by the immaculate-teenage-girl and the romanticized patriotic features. Considering the exotic experiences foreign readers have with Asian cultures, with the exaggeration of Mandarin culture presented in this book, it is difficult to differentiate distinct Taiwanese qualities in translated versions; therefore, western readers cannot separate clearly this distinct culture and location. Surprisingly, the city-versus-country topics in female romantic writings are quite popular. This critique and analysis has proven kuei-shiu (閨秀) style is related to the self-structured good-natured gentleness and the forgiving characteristic of Chinese race.
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