| Summary: | 博士 === 國立臺中教育大學 === 語文教育學系碩博士班 === 103 === Since the lifting of the Martial Law and the rise of Feminism, a substantial number of women’s autobiographies have been published in Taiwan. Autobiographical writing is considered the best strategic tool for a woman to make herself heard. By truthfully writing about themselves, the female writers are replacing the once predominant, often fabricated histories with their personal tales—that is, narrating the “her-story” in their own words. This essay concentrates on the autobiographical writings by Chi Pang-yuan, Nie Hua-ling and Lucy Chen, delves into the writers’ circumstances in the Diaspora and how they reflect the times, and analyzes the similarities and differences among their respective historical backgrounds. “Diaspora” and “Postcolonialism” being its main methodologies, this essay aims to learn the female writers’ “narratives of life” and how they position themselves in an autobiographical, diasporic context.
There are seven chapters in this essay. “Introduction” explains the author’s research motivation and goals, and defines the features of women’s autobiographies respectively in the East and the West. It also reviews previous research results and presents the writing concepts. Chapter 2 “Cultivation: Literary Enlightenment and Development between the Sino-Japanese War and the 1960s” tells how Chi Pang-yuan, Nie Hua-ling and Lucy Chen developed their literary senses, and how literature-related policies in post-war years and the trends of the 1950s and 1960s influenced literary development in Taiwan. These findings serve as the foundations of the ensuing chapters. Chapter 3 “Forced Exile: A Manifestation of Life’s Map” shows the lives of Chi Pang-yuan, Nie Hua-ling and Lucy Chen following the roots and routes of Diaspora. Here, life’s maps and forms are manifested by re-presenting and re-creating “place.” Chapter 4 “Pursuits: Callings from Utopia” studies the “callings” for Chi Pang-yuan, Nie Hua-ling and Lucy Chen as they take their life’s journeys. By imagining, constructing and pursuing one’s Utopia, personal ideals and values may be improved. Chapter 5 “Mending History: Constructing Folk History” suggests that Chi Pang-yuan and Nie Hua-ling attempt to retrieve what has either been omitted or neglected in official histories through the writings about their family’s past, in addition to constructing women’s everyday history. This chapter also delves into how the three writers reconstructed their identities after the lifting of the Martial Law, when political and social circumstances evolved along. Chapter 6 “Positioning: Finding a Stance on which Women Speak for Themselves” analyzes the narratives which Chi Pang-yuan, Nie Hua-ling and Lucy Chen use, so as to understand how they find a stance and speak for themselves through empowerment, and even list their own contributions to Taiwanese literature. It is in this way they express the depths of their lives while discovering their female subjectivity. Chapter 7 “Conclusion” respectively concludes the characteristics of the autobiographical writings by Chi Pang-yuan, Nie Hua-ling and Lucy Chen. This chapter also acknowledges the virtues of this genre, while pointing out the topics worth further study.
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