The Oxcart for Dowry (Chinese: 嫁妝一牛車) is a collection of short stories written by Taiwanese author Wang Chen-ho (王禎和). It was published in May 1969 by Pyramid Publishing in Taipei.
The book primarily features characters from the lower strata of society and depicts the changes in values, ethics, and interpersonal relationships in a gradually capitalizing and transforming society. It explores the pain, anxiety, doubt, and struggle that people experience as they compromise with reality for the sake of survival.
Wang Chen-ho rose to prominence in the 1960s, a time when anti-communist literature was waning. It was an era when a new generation of intellectuals sought change and innovation, drawing inspiration from Western modernization and literature and art. In 1960, students from National Taiwan University's Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures founded the magazine Modern Literature Quarterly (現代文學), introducing Western modernism. Wang first published works in Modern Literature Quarterly in 1961,[1] marking the beginning of his literary career and earning appreciation from the Chinese writer Eileen Chang.[2]
In 1966, the magazine Literature Quarterly (文學季刊) was founded. This magazine, which also introduced Western modernism, began to focus on the realities of Taiwan, and many of its contributors wrote what would later be called "nativist literature." In 1967, Wang Chen-ho began publishing a series of short stories in Literature Quarterly, including The Oxcart for Dowry. This story, written in a mix of Taiwanese and Mandarin, is a satirical comedy about a couple who face hardship because of their poverty. It is considered to be a turning point in Wang Chen-ho's literary experimentation with language.[3]
The eponymous short story, The Oxcart for Dowry, has been studied alongside the work Oxcart by Taiwanese writer Lu Ho-jo (呂赫若).[4] The language style of these works became a focal point of discussion [5] and is considered representative of Taiwanese nativist literature.[6][7]
References
edit- ^ Chen, Pin-chia (2012). 生命中的香格里拉——王禎和小說中的「家」 [Shangri-La in Life: 'Home' in Wang Chen-ho's Novels]. National Chung Cheng University. p. 24. hdl:11296/34tmeg.
- ^ Liu, Wenling (2022-11-03). "王禎和（1940.10.1~1990.9.3）" [Wang Zhenhe (October 1, 1940 – September 3, 1990)]. Online Data Platform. National Museum of Taiwan Literature.
- ^ Hsiao, Tsai-yi (2022). 王禎和小說中的文學方言翻譯 [The Translation of Literary Dialect in the Novels of Wang Chen-ho]. Fu Jen Catholic University. pp. 40–44. hdl:11296/486759.
- ^ Hung, Chin-chun (January 2002). "悲歌兩唱--論呂赫若「牛車」與王禎和「嫁妝一牛車」" [A Duet of Lamentation: On Lu Ho-jo's 'The Oxcart' and Wang Chen-ho's 'A Dowry of an Ox Cart']. 臺灣文學評論(Taiwan literature review). 2 (1): 84–95.
- ^ Hsu, Fu-mei (2019). "從語言風格學角度看〈嫁妝一牛車〉怪誕風格的語言偏離現象" [Examining the Phenomenon of Linguistic Deviation in the Bizarre Style of 'The Oxcart for Dowry' from the Perspective of Language Stylistics] (PDF). 臺灣語文研究(Journal of Taiwanese Languages and Literature). 14 (2): 143–176.
- ^ Hsiao, Tsai-yi (2022). 王禎和小說中的文學方言翻譯 [The Translation of Literary Dialect in the Novels of Wang Chen-ho]. Fu Jen Catholic University. p. 1.
- ^ Ying, Fenghuang (2022-11-03). "書的故事 王禎和的《嫁妝一牛車》" [The Story of Books: Wang Zhenhe's 'A Bridal Dowry of a Cartful of Oxen]. The Merits Times.