ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on linguistic and thematic evidence found in three novels set in or near Hualien, Taiwan (Pangcah Woman (Bangcha nühai) (2015) by Gan Yao-ming (1972–), Rose, Rose, I Love You (Meigui meigui wo ai ni) (1984) by Wang Chen-ho (1940–1990), and The Man with the Compound Eyes (Fuyanren) (2011) by Wu Ming-yi (1971–) in order to discuss the process of indigenization and reveal literary representations of the ideologies of capitalism, environmentalism, and localism. First, examples of linguistic indigenization, including the Pangcah (Ami) and Japanese languages in Pangcah Woman, are unpacked and explained in order to illustrate the process and highlight a local turn in Taiwanese literature. Subsequently, evidence of changing domestic and domesticated international perspectives on Taiwan are taken from Rose, Rose, I Love You, a novel often discussed as a critique of capitalism, to further illustrate indigenization and support its validity as a theoretical construct. Thereafter, endemic sounds and a cosmopolitan narrative in The Man with the Compound Eyes, a novel often noted for its planetary environmentalism, are cited as further examples of indigenization both local and global. Underlying each unpacking of narration and narrative is a distinction between nativism and indigenization, which is outlined in a discussion of xiangtu, bentu, and heimat in the examination of Pangcah Woman. Finally, the chapter concludes with an explanation of the concept of place in absolute terms, in order to emplace indigenization.
