A Study on the Folk Religions Elements in8 Taiwanese Novels Written After 90''s

• Main Authors: Ya-Ru Yang, 楊雅儒
• Other Authors: Ching-Ming Ko
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2007
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/58338870697208450621

碩士 === 國立臺灣大學 === 台灣文學研究所 === 95 === The writing techniques and characters of six authors among eight novels (all of which involve the topic of folk beliefs) are discussed in this paper. Some novels involved in the research mention about the Buddhism and Christianity briefly but their main focus is on the folk belief of the ‘漢人’and the religious belief in the story are therefore based on the folk traditions still. The novels selected have similar ways of approach regarding the choices of focus points; layout of story lines and use of phrasing. Since all the authors were born in between 1945 and 1960 and the novels were all published after 1990, it makes one wonder whether the similarities between these novels are simply coincidences or actually reflects on trends of society at the time? The novels published after 1990 can be divided into two categories: One deal with the problems an individual is likely to encounter during her/his life e.g. beliefs, recognitions, sexuality etc whilst the other rebuilds the history of Taiwan by combining the Taiwanese folk beliefs on deity, ghost, ceremonies and local cultures. Looking at the titles of the novels; the way the folk beliefs are integrated into the stories and the design of the space and time; it gives the impression that the authors are trying to address their ‘common roots’ on restructuring the history of Taiwan from another perspective. The common characters of the novels include collapses of male powers and the rise of goddess and female status; the belief in the soul level in contrast to physical passions. The authors also try to send out different messages through the stories according to their own beliefs. The conclusion draws together the questions encountered from each chapters and attempt in resolving them; It uncovers the meaning of each 「same/different」gods in novels and drew an assumption based on the characters of these novels that they all represent and reflect the writing style of novel are moving towards tactical. The novels are deeply influenced by “The character of Taiwan” which comprise the culture and folk beliefs, strives for the opportunities to be heard and recognitions in similar experiences from the readers in finding their own status in the society.