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Luo Yijun

ラク・イジュン

Luo Yijun

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1967-03-29 （Taipei, Taiwan）
Nationality
Taiwanese
Languages
Chinese

Career

Occupations
novelist, poet, essayist, literary critic
Active Years
1988-
Influenced By
Zhang Dachun
Influenced
Xu Rong-zhe, Yuan Zhe-sheng

Education

Chinese Culture University
Department of Chinese Literature
Degree: 学士
Period: 1980s
Country: Taiwan
Studied Chinese literature under authors such as Zhang Dachun
Taipei National University of the Arts
Graduate Institute of Theatre Arts and Playwriting
Degree: 修士（演劇）
Period: 1993-1995
Year of Graduation: 1995
Country: Taiwan
Earned a master's degree in theater; graduation production included the play 'Qing xie'

Awards

China Times Literature Award
1991
Work: Toy Gun King
Organization: China Times
Result: 受賞
United Daily News Top Ten Books
1993
Work: Red Character Group
Organization: United Daily News
Result: 選出
Chiu Ko Novel of the Year Award
2000
Work: Family of the Moon
Organization: Chiu Ko Publisher
Result: 受賞
Taiwan Literature Award (Golden Long Novel Prize)
2009
Work: Tangut Inn
Organization: National Taiwan Literature Museum
Result: 受賞（長編小説部門）
Dream of the Red Chamber Award
2010
Work: Tangut Inn
Organization: Hong Kong Jinhui University Literature Department
Result: 第1位
United Daily News Fifth Literary Great Award
2018
Work: Alphabets A-F
Organization: United Daily News
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Tangut Inn

2008 Novel (postmodern with science fiction elements)

A novel combining elements of postmodernism and science fiction, exploring exile, alienation, and cultural outsiderness through a fragmented, uncanny narrative.

alienationmigration/exilefragmentary narrationpostmodernism
Adaptations
  • [stage play] Tangut Inn (stage adaptation) / 魏瑛娟 (Wei Ing-chuan) (2014)

Daughter

2014 Novel

A novel focused on family and parent-child relationships, marked by delicate psychological depiction and fragmented structure.

familymemoryparent-child relationships

The Third Dancer

1999 Novel

One of his early representative novels, experimenting literarily and delving into characters' inner lives.

inner lifeliterary experimentation

Alphabets A-F

2017 Prose/experimental collaboration

A collaborative work involving multiple writers, containing experimental prose.

collaborationexperimental style

My Little Boys

2014 Essays / Prose

An essay collection with quasi-autobiographical elements, focusing on family and everyday observations; it was adapted for the stage.

familydaily lifeautobiographical fragments
Adaptations
  • [stage play] My Little Boys (stage adaptation) / 黃志凱（Huang Zhi-kai） (2019)

Bibliography

  • Red Character Group
  • We Left the Bar of the Night
  • The Third Dancer
  • Family of the Moon
  • Elegy
  • Tangut Inn
  • Daughter
  • Alphabets A-F
  • My Little Boys
  • Wo ai luo

Adaptations

  • Stage adaptation of 'My Little Boys' (produced by Story Works)
  • Stage adaptation of 'Tangut Inn' (adapted by Wei Ing-chuan)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
pseudo-autobiographical, fragmentary narrationuncanny and decadent imageryfocus on interioritypostmodern techniques
Recurring Motifs
lonelinessimmigration and cultural marginalityfragmented family memorydreamlike/fantastic motifs

Legacy

Luo Yijun is an important figure in contemporary Taiwanese literature, known for fragmentary, pseudo-autobiographical narration and uncanny imagery. His works have been adapted for the stage and influenced subsequent writers.

In Popular Culture

  • Stage adaptations of several works (e.g. 'My Little Boys', 'Tangut Inn')

Quotes

  • “Pseudo-autobiographical intimate narratives constituting a relay race of fragments, filled with uncanny and decadent imagery and undergirded by an immoral worldview.”
    Source: David Der-wei Wang, critical essay (2018) (2018)

Trivia

  • He is the only child of mainland Chinese immigrants, a background that influenced themes of alienation and migration in his work.
  • In 2007 he was a visiting writer at the Iowa Writers' Workshop.
  • The essay collection 'My Little Boys' was adapted for the stage by Story Works.