Content area
Full Text
In this conversation between two shades of the novelist Li Ang, her readers and fans (and those new to her work) get an unprecedented peek into the interior struggles that drive one of the world's great woman writers as she candidly discusses everything from the public controversies surrounding her early work to the directions her future work might take.
(ProQuest: ... denotes non-US-ASCII text omitted.)
Not long ago, Zhongzheng University in Taiwan held an International Interdisciplinary Conference on the Literature of Li Ang that brought together three generations of Taiwanese scholars as well as foreign academics. The conference forced me to confront some issues that have been a concern of mine for a long time. And so, with the encouragement of my friends Sylvia Lin and Howard Goldblatt, I was inspired to do another self-interview. The last time was twenty years ago in "Shi Shuduan Interviews Li Ang," a text that was referred to by scholars at the recent conference.
I have recently gone through a period of transition in life, giving me a chance to look back on my past. My development as a writer occurred during Taiwan's forty years of martial law, during which I was a supporter of the opposition movement. My writing touched upon society's sexual and political taboos, and in some respects, the value of my work was in its dissent. Defiance was a necessity.
Through hard work, the people brought democracy to Taiwan, an achievement over which they can feel justifiable pride when compared to all other Chinese societies. Although still an unstable democracy, it has given me unlimited creative freedom. Having progressed from being a controversial, dissident, disempowered writer in a developing nation to a place where now, well into middle age, I find myself in a free environment, I feel confident enough to hope for even more forward-looking horizons. And so, I have resolved to talk about the road I have traveled in the form of Li Ang interviewing Li Ang.
The idea of "Dark Li Ang" comes from a fellow writer, Song Zelai .... He and I are very familiar with each other's creative projects and timeliness. Song has called me dark. I understand what he means by that, and that understanding has led me...