A Critical Reading of The Garden of Evening Mists in the Light of Forgiveness and Hospitality

• Main Authors: PENG, JUN-XIONG, 方俊雄
• Other Authors: CHUANG, KUN-LIANG
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2019
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/amr783

碩士 === 逢甲大學 === 外國語文學系英語文研究碩士班 === 107 === The Garden of Evening Mists illustrates the Japanese Occupation during the Pacific War and the Malayan Emergency, declared by the British government as a result of a guerilla war fought in pre- and post-independence Federation of Malaya, dated from 1948 to 1960. The novel surrounds Teoh Yun Ling’s first-person narrative, giving an account of her attempt to deliver the promise she fails to accomplish when she is younger. This thesis aims to discuss the relationship between forgiveness, hospitality, and subjectivity in the context of the novel. Chapter One is the brief introduction of this thesis, including the motivation, plot summary, and literature reviews. Chapter Two examines the aftermath of trauma and the meaning of forgiveness and hospitality. How do Derrida’s forgiveness and hospitality make reconciliation possible? After experiencing traumatic events, victims have to voice for themselves through language in order to reconstruct integral subjectivity. Levinas reminds us of the responsibility we have towards the others. Forgiveness is impossible if there is an obsession with the past, it is only meaningful when we face our past sincerely. Chapter Three analyzes how Yun Ling heals herself with Narrative Exposure Therapy and Scriptotherapy. Chapter Four interrogates the nature of Yun Ling’s forgiveness with Derrida’s discussion of forgiveness. I seek to examine the ethic of Yun Ling’s final decision. In my concluding chapter, I reiterate the importance of forgiveness in the recovery of the victims’ subjectivity and reassert that only with hospitality can we build a peaceful world.