英文摘要 |
Tser-lai Sung stands out from other Taiwanese writers with his signature use of magical-realist techniques to visualize catastrophes and religious experiences. A lot of commentaries and academic researches have addressed this subject, but few of them have come up with a coherent theoretical framework to think synthetically about theological visions, battles between good and evil, collective agencies and redemption. In response to such a lack, this article proposes a materialist-theological reading of Tser-lai Sung’s The City Where Blood-red Bats Descended and The Tropical World of Demons. The first part of this article examines the close tie between aesthetic stylistics, theological views and political-cultural critiques, offering a critical review of a few studies in Sung’s fiction. In light of the concept of “anamorphosis,” the second part theorizes about theological visions with a view to demonstrating how they involve radical decentralization of the subject, becoming of the body and gaps of ontological order. Hence, the focus shifts to how Shao-hsiung Peng, one of the two novels’ protagonist, embodies radical evil. The last part of this paper explores the issue of redemption from Žižek’s materialist-theological perspectives based on his updated interpretation of Schelling’s philosophy. The ultimate concern of this article is how radical theological intervention to transform material realities, instead of a self-enclosed, nihilistic world free of antagonism, is possible in these two novels of Sung’s. |