Grundgedanken zur Geschichte der taiwanischen Literaturen

Abstract

Research on the history of Taiwanese literature has significantly increased in recent years; nevertheless, there are only very few general overviews on the topic. Therefore, I am currently writing a comprehensive history of Taiwanese literature, the fundamental guidelines of which I am presenting in this article. My book will offer new perspectives facilitated by its use of a completely new way of periodization to ensure that every important facet of Taiwan’s colorful literary history is represented: the oral literature by aborigines and Han-Taiwanese; classical literature written in Mandarin and Japanese; as well as modern literature written in Mandarin, Japanese, Hakka, Taiwanese and aboriginal languages. The commonly used periodization of Taiwanese literature along political dates is impractical. Therefore, I will divide my book into six parts (overview of Taiwan’s political history, oral traditions, classical literatures, early modern literatures until 1946, modern literatures from 1946 to ca. 1990, developments after ca. 1990). Each part will be divided into sections devoted to the individual languages and further subdivided into chapters that are structured around specific dates of literary significance.