НАЛЕЖАТИ ДО ЧОГОСЬ: ШАНХАЙ, ТАЙНАНЬ І ТОКІО В ЩОДЕННИКУ ЛЮ НА’ОУ ЗА 1927 РІК

Abstract

In 1927, Liu Na’ou劉吶鷗 (1905–1940), a modernist writer born in Taiwan during the Japanese colonization (1895–1945), kept a one-year diary as he contemplated his future in Shanghai, Tokyo, or Tainan. Rediscovered only in the 1990s, the diary offers valuable insights into Liu Na’ou’s experiences in Shanghai, his travels throughout China, Japan, and Taiwan, and his literary and editorial endeavours, facilitating a renewed exploration and in-depth analysis of the author. Moreover, it provides glimpses into the context of 1920s semicolonial China and into the complex relationship between Japan and Taiwan during the Japanese colonization period. Over the past twenty years, scholars from Taiwan and abroad have extensively researched Liu Na’ou, defining his role as a pioneer of Chinese modernism who introduced Japanese and Western literature to Shanghai in the late 1920s. His 1928 magazine, Trackless Train (無軌列車 Wugui lieche), the two bookstores he established in Shanghai, his translations of modernist Japanese novels, and his anthology Urban Scenes (都市風景線 Dushi fengjing xian) are well-known contributions to modern Chinese and Taiwanese literature. However, Liu’s case study also enables a better understanding of the experiences of Taiwanese writers in the early 20th century, struggling with identity issues, feelings of displacement, non-belonging, and nostalgia. The paper seeks to explore Liu’s depictions of Shanghai, Tainan, and Tokyo in his diary to shed light on how a young 1920s Taiwanese writer perceived these cities while searching for a sense of belonging and career development. By analyzing the emotions conveyed during his stays in these urban centres, the study also aims to uncover and examine Liu’s vision of semicolonial China, the Japanese Empire, and colonial Taiwan.