ABSTRACT
Pai Hsien-yung’s Taipei People presents the developing cityscape of Taipei as well as the mindscapes of the citizens who lived and worked there in the 1950s and 1960s. Many sites embody the Sino-American relations and the Westernization of Taipei during the Cold War. For example, the reconstruction of the military dependents’ villages reveals that the Nationalist government could not practice the return-to-the-mainland military plan without Washington’s approval. In this essay, I will compare the landscapes in Pai’s works with the exact locations in Taipei and explicate the characters’ mindscapes according to their identities, memories, lifestyles, and careers. Pai’s modernist literary technique is not only useful for portraying people’s inner world but is also a product of American cultural diplomacy. Finally, I will explain the influence of the Cold War on the growth of Taipei, particularly its urban life and its literary production.
