Monsoon Belt (Issue 6)

On May 24, 2017, Taiwan's Grand Justices announced their constitutional interpretation, ruling that the ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional. As Taiwan's LGBTQ+ movement takes a major step forward, this issue of Monsoon Belt features a "LGBTQ+ Literature Special," exploring LGBTQ+ issues through the lens of literature.

The second topic is "What If Hua Zong No Longer Exists." With the discontinuation of various newspaper-sponsored literary awards in Taiwan, what would be the impact if Hua Zong Literature, also sponsored by a newspaper, were also discontinued in Malaysia? In this hypothetical issue, we invite authors from different generations (Huang Jinshu, Zhang Jinzhong, Zhou Ruopeng, Chen Yijin, Zheng Yulun, Ye Fuyan, and Niu You Xiaosheng) to share their perspectives and opinions.

LGBT Literature Special

7. Fellows and Middlemen: A Review of Xu Weixian’s “From Erotic History to Sexual History: Gay Writings and the Construction of Masculinity in Modern China” | Xie Jingguo
25 Escape, Ghostly Narratives, and Regressive Time: Preface to Xu Tongyuan's Fiction Collection, My Teacher is a Terrorist | Zhang Guangda
33 The Sensibility and Sexual Enlightenment of “We” Literature | Cai Yingying
38 We Are All Toys—Reading Sao Xia’s “The Toy Room” | Ding Junyong
42 A Rainbow Symphony in a Homophobic Country: Reading "One Will: Selected Malaysian Chinese LGBT Novels" | Lin Rijin
48 The Rebellious Girl | Wu Guohao
50 Yali’s Homosexual Soul? — A Brief Discussion on the Difficulties of LGBT Literature Research | Ye Fuyan
54 Why We Should Read Wu Jiwen's "Tianhe Chaos" Now: On the 2017 Reprint of "Tianhe Chaos" and Its Extensions | Chen Baiqing
62 Retaking That Poison: Looking Back Seven Years Later | Hayami Shinsuke

If the flowers are no longer there

68 Flower Tracks: A Literary Movement? | Huang Jinshu
79 Demonstrating the Power of Literature Awards | Zhang Jinzhong
82 If Hua Zong is no longer available | Zhou Ruopeng
The 84th Literary Prize and the Writer Recognition Machine | Chen Yijin
89 If Huazong were to cease operations... | Zheng Yulun
94 An addiction called "Flower Trace" that can't be quit | Ye Fuyan
97 "If Hua Zong is no longer available" - Three chapters on Heaven, Earth and Man | Niu You Xiao Sheng

After reading the book review

106 Gypsies in Town | Wu Xinlin
109 Encountering the Loneliness of a Boy on an Island | Chen Guanting

echo

113 Looking Forward to the Renaissance of Poetry and Music: From Bob Dylan to Liang Wenfu | Chen Zhirui
124 Me and Literary Awards, and Some Thoughts on “Literary Awards” | Zeng Fanjing