Writing the “Back Mountain”: A Study on the Literatures of Hualien Area

• Main Authors: Yu-Syuan Sie, 謝毓軒
• Other Authors: Huei- Chu Chu
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2014
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/w6w2b6

碩士 === 國立中興大學 === 台灣文學與跨國文化研究所 === 102 === In the mid 1990s, the writing of regional literature became a trend in Taiwanese literature. The literatures focused on the eastern Taiwan had gradually mushroomed at that time. These literatures coincidentally named the eastern Taiwan the “Back Mountain.” Among these literatures, the “Back Mountain image” generally adopted the concepts of backwardness, nature, primitive, disadvantage, and periphery. This research explores and focuses on the contemporary literatures of Hualien area. This research mainly discusses the uniqueness of the “Back Mountain image” and its origin, development, and impact to the modern age, and investigates the goal for its constant recreation and duplication in the texts of contemporary literature. This dissertation divides into five chapters. Except for the chapters of introduction and conclusion, chapter two, three, and four are the key parts. Chapter two uses Fang Zi’s “Go to Hualien Harbor” as the text to explore the historical background of the early stage of the exploitation in the Back Mountain area during the Japanese-governed period, the origin of the Back Mountain image, and its relevance to the localization. This chapter also talks about the role of the female Han-Chinese in the exploitation history of the Back Mountain and the possibility of its combination with the concept of borderland in the Back Mountain image. Chapter three explores the development of the Back Mountain image by Wu Feng-Qui’s “The Sun Shines First Behind the Mountain.” The time frame of this literature is from the later stage of Japanese-governed period to the early stage of the ROC re-instated in Taiwan. During this period, many ethnics began to immigrate to the Back Mountain. Under this background, this literature discusses how these ethnics improve and accelerate their integration with the others, create the specific new image of the Back Mountain, and acknowledge the Back Mountain area as their motherland. Chapter four uses Wu Ming-Yi’s “So Much Water So Close to Home ” and Liao Hong-Ji’s “The County nearby Mountain and Sea” as the text to explore the contemporary environmental problems in Hualien area. These literatures discuss the relevance between the agricultural development and the construction of the Back Mountain image. From these texts, I observe the consequence of environmental devastation caused by the modernization in the Back Mountain area; at the same time, I analyze the author’s opinion on how to give a consideration to the modernization and environmental protection simultaneously. Then, I discuss the differences and problems by a comparison between the current status of the environmental devastation in the Back Mountain and the concept of “pure land” in the Back Mountain image. Finally, I try to find out the possibility of the balance on the exploitation and environmental protection in the future from Wu Ming-Yi and Liao Hong-Ji’s philosophy on environmental protection. From the above analyses, we can observe that the Back Mountain image constantly influences the exploitation and modernization in the process of its development, from the Japanese-governed period to nowadays; meanwhile, the slow progress on the exploitation of the Back Mountain area reproduces the Back Mountain image again. It shows us that the evolution of the Back Mountain image and the modernization and exploitation in that area are closed linked and inseparable and continuingly interplay with each other.