The only definition of Taiwan "hsiang-t'u" literature available to date is a biographical/ethnic one: "hsiang-t'u" writers are native Taiwanese. This study proposes a historical definition instead. Taiwan "hsiang-t'u" literature in the seventies is seen as a specific example of the impact of westernization/modernization on third-world literature and culture, of the tension between tradition and innovation in a culture in transition.
Structurally, the study is divided into two parts and each part contains three chapters. The first part deals with the historical background of "hsiang-t'u" literature, while the second part is devoted to the literature itself. The first two chapters trace the very origin of "hsiang-t'u" literature and sees its development from the Occupation Period down to the seventies in the light of socio-politico-cultural interaction. The third chapter focuses on the debate over "hsiang-t'u" literature with the intent to reveal the theoretical underpinning of "hsiang-t'u" literature as well as the fundamental difference between modernism and realism as these movements figure in the Taiwanese context. In order to see what issues are actually at stake and ultimately what definition of "hsiang-t'u" literature emerges from the literary works themselves, the second part of this study moves beyond the debate to the literature itself. In the last three chapters, selected works of three "hsiang-t'u" writers, Hwang Chun-ming, Wang Chen-ho, and Ch'en Ying-chen, are discussed in terms of the narrative stance assumed in their works. The discussion aims at relating three "hsiang-t'u" writers to the social context of the historical transition period to which they belong and situating Taiwan "hsiang-t'u" literature in the context of modern Chinese literature.