英文摘要 |
This paper centers on three signs: "science fiction," "Taiwan" and "homosexuality." I find these signs loosely comparable, for all of them are associated not only with the obsession with categorization (e.g., Who are "authentic" Taiwanese people?) but also with the longing for utopias (e.g., an independent Taiwan imagined to be a utopia). As "American lesbian and gay science fiction" remains an established genre, it is tempting to envision its counterpart in Taiwan, a locus where the significations of "science fiction," "Taiwan" and "homosexuality" have been contingent upon the hegemonic American culture. However, I do not propose to seek the "model texts" which perfectly illustrate all of the three signs at the same time. Rather, I turn to non-model texts, which fail to visualize these signs simultaneously. Such texts of "failure" reveal how these signs enable and block each other at once. Focusing on a story written by Lin Yao-te, a writer known for his experimental literature, I submit that the spectacular same-sex desire in Lin's story determines whether his story can be categorized as science fiction. In Darko Suvin's word, homosexuality in Lin’s story funcions as a "novum." |