ABSTRACT
As a leading figure among the modernist writers in Taiwan, Pai Hsien-yung (also romanized as Bai Xianyong) is best known for his skillful employment of the Chinese language, for his artistic portrayal of human psychology, and for his depiction of marginalization, displacement, and exile. Pai was instrumental in introducing Western modernism to Taiwan through a literary journal, Hsien-tai wen-hsueh (Modern Literature), that he cofounded with a group of young writers while he was still in college. With the publication of his first novel, Niezi (1983; Crystal Boys), Pai was also the first writer in modern Chinese literary history to portray the unspeakable and insufferable dark side of gay life in Taiwan, which he did through experiments in modernist techniques such as stream of consciousness, free association, and interior monologue. Some of his stories and Crystal Boys have been adapted into motion pictures.
