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The research of nativist fiction (hsiang-tu hsiao-shuo, 鄉土小說) have gained popularity in Taiwan since 2000. However, the meaning of “hsiang-tu” (鄉土) remains difficult to pin down. This thesis attempts to consider hsiang-tu as a method by situating the term in a relational context with forces and factors coming from external environments. Ever since its inception, the specific manner in which nativist literature develops has always been conditioned by external factors—for example, the colonial experience under Japanese rule shaped the way nativist literature evolved; the trend toward corporate management and the resulting economic exploitation of lower classes constituted the major concern of nativist literature. In the introduction, I will define “hsiang-tu” as a strategy in which writers adopt elements of locality in response to the external factors. My contention is that the phenomenon of globalization has become the main external factors since the new millennium, and nativist novels of the 21st century can be read as a series of fictional attempts, through dynamic negotiation between the local and the global, to deal with the impact of globalization. In the second chapter, I read Po-Yen Chen’s Shi-Pu-Yu and look at how Chen presents multiple local narratives. He shows the conflicts of diverse interpretations of local reality. In doing so, Chen provides a way to reexamine the reality under globalization. The third chapter shifts its focus to Ming-Dao Hong’s Dan-loo. In this novel, Hong provides a new way of criticizing the globalization. Firstly, Hong presents readers with a balanced account of risks and opportunities under globalization, thus highlighting the complexity of globalization. He later casts a doubt on the opportunities by explaining the metaphors of the fiction titles and offering an open-ended denouement. Hong thus draws a full picture of globalization and simultaneously stays alert of it. In the fourth chapter, I analyze Fu-Min Yang’s The Sixty-Year-Old Boy. I argue that the construction of the local in Yang’s novel centers on human relationship and their life experience rather than through local color representation. As such, the local in the age of globalization is no longer a manipulable symbol but an expression of deep affection. In light of the analyses in these three chapters, I hope to demonstrate that post-2000 “hsiang-tu” is a term suggesting not just a common feature shared by a specific genre; more importantly, it is also a method of rethinking globalization.
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