''Notes of a Desolate Man'' (
Chinese
Chinese can refer to:
* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation
** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...
: 荒人手記;
pinyin: Huāng rén shǒujì), the first book-length novel by Taiwanese writer
Chu T'ien-wen (朱天文), was published in 1994, and won first prize in the first ''
China Times''
Million Dollar Novel Award. The novella was translated into English by
Howard Goldblatt and
Sylvia Li-chun Lin
Sylvia may refer to:
People
*Sylvia (given name)
*Sylvia (singer), American country music and country pop singer and songwriter
*Sylvia Robinson, American singer, record producer, and record label executive
*Sylvia Vrethammar, Swedish singer credi ...
and published by Columbia University Press in 2000. This
queer
''Queer'' is an umbrella term for people who are not heterosexual or cisgender. Originally meaning or , ''queer'' came to be used pejoratively against those with same-sex desires or relationships in the late 19th century. Beginning in the lat ...
postmodern
Postmodernism is an intellectual stance or mode of discourseNuyen, A.T., 1992. The Role of Rhetorical Devices in Postmodernist Discourse. Philosophy & Rhetoric, pp.183–194. characterized by skepticism toward the " grand narratives" of moderni ...
novel is one of her most well-known works, and won the ''
China Times'' Novel Prize.
The book depicts the journey of a
gay man named Xiao Shao, who travels to Japan to attend the funeral of his dear friend, Ah Yao. During the funeral, he reflects on the first half of his life, confessing and repenting the entanglements he had with eight different lovers. He also shares his observations and insights on desire and mortality. The entire book is structured as a diary to portray intimate relationships among gay men, breaking free from traditional narratives to challenge established norms of male literary aesthetics. The book is rich in sensory descriptions and cultural codes, presenting a glimpse of the decadent and lustful aspects of modern urban life.
Characters
* Xiao Shao (
Chinese
Chinese can refer to:
* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation
** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...
: 小韶;
pinyin: Xiǎo sháo) is 40-years-old
gay Taiwanese man (later identified as a
mainlander) who serves as the narrator for the novel. Is best friends with Ah Yao, who is dying in
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
from complications from
AIDS
Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...
.
* Ah Yao (
Chinese
Chinese can refer to:
* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation
** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...
: 阿堯;
pinyin: Ā yáo) is a gay/queer man and a childhood friend of Xiao Shao. He has been diagnosed with AIDS and is suffering from its complications in Japan, where he lives with his mother. Ah Yao eventually dies.
* Ah Yao’s mother has a close relationship with Xiao Shao and treats him as if he were her own son, in contrast to her relationship with Ah Yao, who does not respect her. She is Buddhist as well.
* Yongjie (
Chinese
Chinese can refer to:
* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation
** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...
: 永桔;
pinyin: Yǒng jú) has been Xiao's partner for seven years. He is a freelance documentary filmmaker who travels to southwest China for work.
* Jay is a Taipei dancer who dates Xiao Shao at first but eventually falls out of love and instead leaves him for Jin.
* Fido dubbed as “Fido” from the
Fido Dido
Fido Dido ( or ) is a cartoon character created by Joanna Ferrone and Sue Rose.
History
Rose first doodled the character in 1985 on a napkin in a restaurant. Ferrone came up with the character’s name on her way to work the next day. The two la ...
logo on his t-shirt, is a handsome young man whom Xiao Shao met at a coffee shop.
* Beibei female friend of Xiao Shao and entrepreneur.
Style
''Notes of a Desolate Man'' is written in a
postmodern style of "ontological dislocation,"
that is "notoriously"
intertextual
Intertextuality is the shaping of a text's meaning by another text, either through deliberate compositional strategies such as quotation, allusion, calque, plagiarism, translation, pastiche or parody,Gerard Genette (1997) ''Paratexts'p.18/ref>H ...
, with numerous cultural allusions, related in a
stream of consciousness, and many doubts expressed about the stability of meaning. The narrator-protagonist Xiao Shao responds to his predicament by considering ideas by thinkers such as French anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss (especially his study ''
Tristes Tropiques'') and philosopher and gay icon
Michel Foucault
Paul-Michel Foucault (, ; ; 15 October 192625 June 1984) was a French philosopher, historian of ideas, writer, political activist, and literary critic. Foucault's theories primarily address the relationship between power and knowledge, and how ...
, as well as popular culture texts and figures as diverse as ''
E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial,
Home Alone,
Woman Basketball Player No. 5
''Woman Basketball Player No. 5'' () is a 1957 Chinese film presented by Tianma Film Studio and directed by Xie Jin, starring Qin Yi, Liu Qiong, Cao Qiwei and Wang Qi. It is the first colored sports movie filmed after the formation of the People ...
, Dream Lovers,
La Dolce Vita
''La Dolce Vita'' (; Italian for "the sweet life" or "the good life"Kezich, 203) is a 1960 satirical comedy-drama film directed and co-written (with Ennio Flaiano, Tullio Pinelli and Brunello Rondi) by Federico Fellini. The film stars Marcell ...
,
Tokyo Story
is a 1953 Japanese drama film directed by Yasujirō Ozu and starring Chishū Ryū and Chieko Higashiyama about an aging couple who travel to Tokyo to visit their grown children. Upon release, it did not immediately gain international recogniti ...
'', ''
The Fly'' (two versions of the film), ''
Aparajito
''Aparajito'' ( bn, অপরাজিত ''Ôporajito''; ''The Unvanquished'') is a 1956 Indian Bengali-language drama film written and directed by Satyajit Ray (1921–1992), and is the second part of ''The Apu Trilogy''. It is adapted from ...
,''
T.S. Eliot
Thomas Stearns Eliot (26 September 18884 January 1965) was a poet, essayist, publisher, playwright, literary critic and editor.Bush, Ronald. "T. S. Eliot's Life and Career", in John A Garraty and Mark C. Carnes (eds), ''American National B ...
's ''
The Waste Land,''
Michael Jackson,
pachinko, and the
Buddhist text ''
The Diamond Sutra''.
Reception
''Notes of a Desolate Man'' is recognized as one of Chu's most significant literary works.
The novel is formatted as a “private” diary, and is often categorized as a
postmodern novel
Postmodern literature is a form of literature that is characterized by the use of metafiction, unreliable narration, self-reflexivity, intertextuality, and which often thematizes both historical and political issues. This style of experimental ...
. While the surface of the story deals with the struggles of LGBTQ identity, the protagonist's negative attitude towards desire and a tendency to endorse mainstream heterosexual values throughout the book raises questions about whether it truly represents the voice of the
LGBTQ community. Literary critic
Ng Kim Chew (黃錦樹), on the other hand, believes that the author breaks free from past conventions through its use of urban settings while still carrying the influence of early efforts to revive Chinese culture in the novel, making it a tribute to the author's mentor,
Hu Lancheng (胡蘭成).
The novella was awarded the coveted China Times Novel Prize in 1994, winning grand prize of 1 million New Taiwan Dollars.
Though written by a heterosexual woman, ''Notes of a Desolate Man'' has also been recognized as a landmark novel to thematize
gay,
homosexual
Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to peop ...
, and
queer
''Queer'' is an umbrella term for people who are not heterosexual or cisgender. Originally meaning or , ''queer'' came to be used pejoratively against those with same-sex desires or relationships in the late 19th century. Beginning in the lat ...
identity, alongside such works as
Pai Hsien-yung's ''
Crystal Boys
''Crystal Boys'' (孽子, pinyin: ''Nièzǐ'', "sons of sin") is a novel written by author Pai Hsien-yung and first published in 1983 in Taiwan. In 1988, this novel went into circulation in China; its French and English translations were publi ...
,''
Qiu Miaojin
Qiu Miaojin (; 29 May 1969 – 25 June 1995), also romanized as Chiu Miao-chin, was a Taiwanese people, Taiwanese queer novelist. Qiu's fictional works are "frequently cited as classics", and her unapologetically lesbian sensibility has had ...
's ''
Notes of a Crocodile
''Notes of a Crocodile'' (Chinese: 鱷魚手記) is a 1994 Taiwanese novel by writer Qiu Miaojin (邱妙津). It is one of the most significant Taiwanese lesbian novels of the 1990s, and is also a significant work in Taiwanese literature. The nov ...
'', and
Chi Ta-wei
Chi Ta-wei (, born February 3, 1972) is a Taiwanese writer.
Life
Chi Ta-wei was born in Taichung, Taiwan in 1972. He received BA and MA in the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures (locally known as "Waiwenxi" at National Taiwan ...
's ''
The Membranes.''
Translation
In 1999, Columbia University Press published the English translation of the novel by Howard Goldbatt and Sylvia Li-chun Lin. Translators Goldblatt and Lin were awarded the National Translation Award from the
American Literary Translators Association (ALTA) for flawlessly recapturing the original text into English. The acquiring editor likened the novel to
Fyodor Dostoevsky
Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky (, ; rus, Фёдор Михайлович Достоевский, Fyódor Mikháylovich Dostoyévskiy, p=ˈfʲɵdər mʲɪˈxajləvʲɪdʑ dəstɐˈjefskʲɪj, a=ru-Dostoevsky.ogg, links=yes; 11 November 18219 ...
's novella, ''
Notes from Underground'' (1864).
References
{{LGBT fiction
Taiwanese novels
1990s LGBT novels
Postmodern novels
Novels about HIV/AIDS
1994 novels