Taiwan Fiction and
Postwar Urban Experience
Week 12:
Chang Ta-chun and the Wild Kids
in the Urban World
[Nov 28th, 2013]
Instructor:
Richard Rong-bin Chen, PhD.
Adjunct Assistant Professor,
Graduate Institute of Taiwan Literature, NTU
Unless noted, the course materials are licensed under Creative Commons
Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Taiwan (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0)
Wikipedia Rico Shen
 1957: born in Taipei City, but his father
was from Shan-dong Province.
 Education: attained both BA and MA
degrees from Fu Jen Catholic University
(Department and Graduate Institute of
Chinese Literature).
 Used to be an instructor of Chinese
Literature in Fu Jen and a host of TV
programs, now a host in a FM radio talkshow (FM 98.1).
 Wild Kids: Two Novels about Growing up.
Trans. Michael Berry. Columbia UP, 2000.
(Containing both My Kid Sister [《我妹妹》]
and Wild Child [《野孩子》] .)
 Enfants des rues. Trans. Mathilde Chou
Philippe Picquier, 2006.
(Containing only Wild Child.)
 La Stèle du général. Trans. Mathilde Chou
Philippe Picquier, 2004.
(Story collection. English version “The General’s
Monument” [〈將軍碑〉] )
”A Guided Tour of an Apartment
Complex” (1986) by Chang Ta-chun
• First published in Unitas [《聯合文學》]
• Story Structure is the structure of the apartment.
• A story with more than ten protagonists, each of
them with a different job.
• Spatially connected, but socially alienated.
• Unknowing relations among them.
• Shows a cynic perspective on marriage and
morality.
The Fortune Building [富禮大廈]
National Taiwan University Richard Rong-bin Chen
National Taiwan University Richard Rong-bin Chen
Narrative and Urban Structure
in Wild Child (1996)
• Written on the basis of a specific urban
and suburban structure.
• Like Crystal Boys, it depicts a bunch
of social outcasts.
• Hou Shichun [侯世春]: protagonist, a
truant who became a part of the
underground society as soon as he left
the school and family.
The Review in The Economist
• Chang Ta-Chun is a cultural phenomenon in Taiwan,
both as a popular TV host and a bestselling writer. His
two short novels, “My Kid Sister” and “Wild Child”,
now translated into English and published in one
volume as “Wild Kids”, feature members of Taiwan's
cynical younger generation. “My Kid Sister” runs
through the narrator's adolescence, from the birth of
his little sister to her pregnancy at the age of 19. Their
family is dysfunctional in a uniquely Taiwanese, Eastmeets-West way, combining Freudian angst (children
and parents) with comic walk-on parts for the bearers
of Chinese tradition (grandparents). “Wild Child” is a
PLEASE DON'T CALL ME HUMAN. Wang Shuo (translated By Howard Goldblatt); THE REPUBLIC OF WINE. By Mo Yan (translated
by Howard Goldblatt); WILD KIDS: TWO NOVELS ABOUT GROWING UP. By Chang Ta-Chun (translated by Michael Berry); THE
DEER&THE CAULDRON. By Louis Cha (translated by John Minford). (April 12, 2001). Crouching pen, hidden talent. The Economist
(US). Retrieved November 25, 2013 from http://www.economist.com/node/568895
• darker episode, in which 14-year-old Hou
Shichun drops out of school and runs away from
home. After falling into the Taiwanese
underworld, he encounters other confused
youngsters: Old Bull, Little Horse and Apricot.
Although not unlike Holden Caulfield's lonesome
voice in J.D. Salinger's “The Catcher in the Rye”,
Mr Hou's narrative is a more brutal depiction of
the spiritual vacuum of Taiwanese youth.
PLEASE DON'T CALL ME HUMAN. Wang Shuo (translated By Howard Goldblatt); THE REPUBLIC OF WINE. By Mo Yan (translated by Howard
Goldblatt); WILD KIDS: TWO NOVELS ABOUT GROWING UP. By Chang Ta-Chun (translated by Michael Berry); THE DEER&THE CAULDRON.
By Louis Cha (translated by John Minford). (April 12, 2001). Crouching pen, hidden talent. The Economist (US). Retrieved November 25, 2013
from http://www.economist.com/node/568895
The Characters
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Horsefly. [虻哥]
Little Five. [小五]
Ah Dibo [阿弟波]
Uncle Xu [許叔]
Annie, Hoop, and Apricot. [阿妮、阿環、美杏]
Old Bull [牯古]
Zeng Ahzhi [曾阿治]
Little Horse [小馬]
Little Xinjiang [小新疆]
Bull-boy [小公牛]
Socialized Space in Wild Child
• When I say the space, especially the urban
space, is socialized, I mean space is the place
where humans engage one another as
individuals or communities, and space is always
shaped by contending social institutions.
• Antagonism: Gang of Horsefly vs. gang of Uncle
Xu. [Games/The Handgun/The Hotel/The Negotiation]
• Home, school, and commercial building constitute
an institutionalized space which is in a strong
contrast to places such as “the garage,” “junkyard,”
gambling parlors, and those dingy hotels.
National Taiwan University Richard Rong-bin Chen
Beginning (2)
In the Streets (3)
School and Home [falsely accused by Mr.
Hippo of burning the class geography
exams]
Bingo Wonderland
The garage [surrounded by highway
In the Heart of the
overpass, a bowling alley, and two high
Night (4)
buildings]
Games (6)
The Handgun (8)
The warehouse casino in the valley
The junkyard (in Xizhi)
National Taiwan University Richard Rong-bin Chen
Eternal Spring Ave. [長春路]
On the Rooftop (11) “whorehouse hair salons”
Buddhist hall of worship
The Hotel (14)
Dingy hotels
The Negotiation
(26)
Lai Lai Sheraton
The Birthday (27) Ma Jianren Hospital
National Taiwan University Richard Rong-bin Chen
Symbolic Function of Space
• These days Uncle Xu runs things at the parking lot.
The lot is about the size of two basketball courts. In
front is a highway overpass, in back is a bowling
alley, and on the two sides are a couple of buildings
over ten stories tall. If you stand in the middle of the
parking lot and look around, you’ll feel like you
have fallen into a garbage can. The ticket box where
uncle Xu worked was like a miniature trash can
within the larger one. As Uncle Xu scurried out of
his box he looked really strange, peering around in
all directions almost like a rat. (p. 152)
Source: Chang Ta-chun .(2000) Michael Berry(Eds.),
Wild kids : two novels about growing up. New York : Columbia University Press
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Main Themes
Organized crime.
Problem of police corruption.
The disappearance of Hou Shichun’s father.
(A good-for-nothing gambler.)
(Loss of traditional value?)
Ma Jianren vs. Little Horse
Hou’s indifferent and hypocritical mother.
Chapter 6: “Games”
Chapter 7: “Good-for-nothings”
Chapter 17: “The Poster”
A Workaholic Mother
• . . . I began to think about my own mother.
When you are in terrible pain and thoroughly
uncomfortable, imagining your mother driving
a smelly van isn’t difficult at all. . . . My mom
should have been at work. She probably
already knew what I’d done yesterday, but just
like always she would still go to work. On
Tuesdays she would always wear a pair of gray
pants to the office. . . . (p. 161)
Source: Chang Ta-chun .(2000) Michael Berry(Eds.),
Wild kids : two novels about growing up. New York : Columbia University Press
• “Hello? Mr. He? This is Hou Shichun’s
mother. That’s right. Hou Shichun still hasn’t
returned! He’s really making me crazy!”
• …
• “Then do you think I should call the police?”
As my mother spoke, I’m sure she was
sketching a draft advertisement or scriblling
out some document—who knows, maybe she
was knitting her brows and shaking her head at
somebody else, telling them not to do anything
silly while she was on the phone. (p. 162)
Source: Chang Ta-chun .(2000) Michael Berry(Eds.),
Wild kids : two novels about growing up. New York : Columbia University Press
Discriminating Eccentricity
• This man stood on the rooftop of the somewhat
shorter building across the street. . . . But wearing
two hats was nothing—most outrageous was the
fact that he was wearing several layers of clothes;
there must have been somewhere around, what,
fifty layers? . . . This guy’s pants were even more
ridiculous that his shirts and jackets. He wore the
shorter pants on the outside and the longer ones
on the inside, so you could see crystal-clear that
he was wearing at least five or six pairs. . . .
(p. 166-7)
Source: Chang Ta-chun .(2000) Michael Berry(Eds.),
Wild kids : two novels about growing up. New York : Columbia University Press
• That guy, it turned out, was sunbathing and singing on the
rooftop. Here’s the comment of Hou’s mother on him:
• “Oh, God, another loser!” As she spoke, my mother
patted my shoulder. “What’s one to do? These days there
are more and more of these characters in Taiwan.”
• “Is he insane?” I asked.
• “Well, he’s got to have a screw loose somewhere.”
• . . . “If you don’t study hard and work hard, that’s how
you’ll end up. Got it?”
• “End up like what?” . . .
• “End up a loser,” Mom answered.
• “Is there something wrong with being a loser?” (p. 167-8)
Source: Chang Ta-chun .(2000) Michael Berry(Eds.),
Wild kids : two novels about growing up. New York : Columbia University Press
Is she a responsible mother?
• Commercial Queen Jade Aroma Chen is a wellknown figure who actively takes part in various
activities for the public welfare. Having
experienced the misfortune of a failed marriage,
she threw herself whole-heartedly into her career
and social work, but in the end, who could
predict that she would neglect properly
disciplining her own son? Recently her only son,
Hou Shichun, suddenly disappeared without
notice, running away from home. Not long
before, Hou Shichun was involved in a case of
(p. 211-2)
Source: Chang Ta-chun .(2000) Michael Berry(Eds.),
Wild kids : two novels about growing up. New York : Columbia University Press
damaging public property on his school campus; moreover,
owing to harbored resentment, the accused student went so
far as to assault a teacher. As ill fortune has already
befallen Mrs. Chen, she has resolved to draw a lesson from
her painful experience . . . Mrs. Chen has bravely stood up.
She has taken her own bitter experience as the inspiration
and theme in designing a fund-raising activity poster for
the New Era Cultural and Educational Foundation, which
has long been concerned with problems facing today’s
adolescents. . . . She writes: “My child! Your mother is
here, your family is here. The road back is in your heart;
give your mother a chance; let us grow together!”
Chang Ta-chun .(2000) Michael Berry(Eds.),
(p. 211-2) Source:
Wild kids : two novels about growing up. New York : Columbia University Press
The son’s question: Why don’t you just go on eternally
searching for me?
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Wikipedia Rico Shen
http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:2008TIBE_Day5_Hall1_ActivityCenter2_Dachuen_Chang.jpg
2013/11/25 visited
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National Taiwan University Richard Rong-bin Chen
7
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9
PLEASE DON'T CALL ME HUMAN. Wang Shuo (translated By Howard Goldblatt);
THE REPUBLIC OF WINE. By Mo Yan (translated by Howard Goldblatt); WILD KIDS:
TWO NOVELS ABOUT GROWING UP. By Chang Ta-Chun (translated by Michael
Berry); THE DEER&THE CAULDRON. By Louis Cha (translated by John
Minford). (April 12, 2001). Crouching pen, hidden talent. The Economist (US). Retrieved
November 25, 2013 from http://www.economist.com/node/568895
Chang Ta-Chun is a …
(grandparents). “Wild
Child” is a
10
13
darker episode, in which
…spiritual vacuum of
Taiwanese youth.
PLEASE DON'T CALL ME HUMAN. Wang Shuo (translated By Howard Goldblatt);
THE REPUBLIC OF WINE. By Mo Yan (translated by Howard Goldblatt); WILD KIDS:
TWO NOVELS ABOUT GROWING UP. By Chang Ta-Chun (translated by Michael
Berry); THE DEER&THE CAULDRON. By Louis Cha (translated by John
Minford). (April 12, 2001). Crouching pen, hidden talent. The Economist (US). Retrieved
November 25, 2013 from http://www.economist.com/node/568895
National Taiwan University Richard Rong-bin Chen
Copyright Declaration
Page
Work
Licensing
Author/Source
14
National Taiwan University Richard Rong-bin Chen
15
National Taiwan University Richard Rong-bin Chen
16
These days Uncle Xu
runs things …around in
all directions almost like
a rat.
Chang Ta-chun .(2000) . Wild Child
Michael Berry(Eds.)
Wild kids : two novels about growing up. (p.152).
New York : Columbia University Press
18
. . . I began to think about
my …wear a pair of gray
pants to the office. . . .
Chang Ta-chun .(2000) . Wild Child
Michael Berry(Eds.)
Wild kids : two novels about growing up. (p.161).
New York : Columbia University Press
19
“Hello? Mr. He? This
is…making me crazy!”…
“Then do you think I …
was on the phone.
Chang Ta-chun .(2000) . Wild Child
Michael Berry(Eds.)
Wild kids : two novels about growing up. (p.162).
New York : Columbia University Press
20
This man stood on the
rooftop of the …that he
was wearing at least five
or six pairs. . .
Chang Ta-chun .(2000) . Wild Child
Michael Berry(Eds.)
Wild kids : two novels about growing up. (pp.166-7).
New York : Columbia University Press
Copyright Declaration
Licensing
Author/Source
Page
Work
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That guy, it turned out,
was …
“Is
there
something
wrong with being a loser?”
Chang Ta-chun .(2000) . Wild Child
Michael Berry(Eds.)
Wild kids : two novels about growing up. (pp.167-8).
New York : Columbia University Press
22
Commercial Queen Jade
Aroma Chen …before,
Hou Shichun was
involved in a case of
Chang Ta-chun .(2000) . Wild Child
Michael Berry(Eds.)
Wild kids : two novels about growing up. (pp.167-8).
New York : Columbia University Press
23
damaging public property
on his school …give your
mother a chance; let us
grow together!”
Chang Ta-chun .(2000) . Wild Child
Michael Berry(Eds.)
Wild kids : two novels about growing up. (pp.211-2).
New York : Columbia University Press