dating

pages, folded up and stuffed into the jacket, and the torn album pages were thrown into the trash can.He pushed open the escape door in the corridor and strode out into the cold air outside.As dusk approached, he paced back and forth in the sparsely populated winter garden, but the feeling of suffocation and burning in his chest still persisted.

MELODY has been exposed, and I am afraid that no one will dare to come to the door in the future.Especially the customers in the store are all middle-aged and above, who doesn't have some past or some hard-earned status?

How did this relationship start between two people living in different places?

Maybe at the beginning, they were just young people who were not deeply involved in the world. In that closed era, as long as there is a cute partner, as long as a taste of love is enough, no matter the background or the education background, I never thought that such a love will be possible in the future. How hard...wouldn't it be easier if it happened today?

Or is this kind of love never going to happen?

The more you can openly pursue the age, the more you don't have to tolerate disproportionate conditions.Once a partner is on the stage, they will have a heart of comparison, and human vanity will find a stage.Xiao Min didn't let him be exposed, and now he understands that he was actually afraid of ruining her better chance.And isn't it the same for him to choose Xiao Min?Isn't it because he doesn't want people to think that he is a freak who loves Ojisang instead of a beautiful woman?It never occurred to me that maybe Tony committed suicide not only because his gay status was exposed.Because the talk of transvestites was still common back then, could it be that he had an unexposed lover who never knew he was doing a drag show and wanted to break up with him for this reason? Tony can't think about it because of his emotional injury?Had Tony's family been wronged all these years? ...

Gradually the alcohol receded, and he regained his sanity, knowing that if he lost control of his emotions at this time, it would only make things worse.Suppressing the anger that was about to erupt, he tried to use the most gentle tone of his voice to cover up the question that made him most anxious at this time.He turned his attention to the cell phone that was also seized from his jacket and now rests on the police desk.

"Two big brothers, I will definitely answer every question you have, but before that, can I ask you to do me a favor—"

"The prosecutor will go to work later, let's talk about something when he comes!"

"No—this one has nothing to do with my arson—"

The one who really needs to be saved now is not himself, but the person who is still lying in the hospital.He restrained another burst of churning in his heart, almost humbly: "Please, can you call the hospital, I want to know. The patient Lin Guoxiong... is he awake?..."

He thought his request would be flatly rejected, but after the two police officers glanced at each other, one of them turned and walked to the desk, picking up the phone receiver.

This made Aaron's heart suddenly soar, and he realized that the psychological preparation he thought he had made was just a little light that he relied on to light a match in the dark night, and it would be swallowed by the darkness at any time.

●

As the elevator descended, there were only two passengers along the way.I turned my face away, because I smelled the other person's alcohol, and at the same time felt that he seemed to be looking me up and down maliciously.

Excuse me--

After passing the tenth floor, the boy finally said: Have you released records before?

I may have overestimated the amount of shock that Yao could handle on the same night.

When I told him that the real reason I stopped making music was because of my illness, he, who had been trying to maintain a certain level of calm, finally covered his face and let out a sob.

I turned around hesitantly, looked at the boy with a smirk because he was slightly drunk, and nodded slowly, admitting that I was once a musician.

Oh I knew it!I thought you looked familiar!My mom likes you very much!I remember when I was very young, she was playing your song while she was ironing——

Yao asked me why I never let him know?

I asked back: Now that you know, does it make you feel better?

I'm going to call my mom later, she must never have thought that I would meet her girlhood idol!

When I turned around and opened the sliding door of the restaurant box, Yao didn't hold me back.I thought maybe we each had too much to deal with.

He followed the boy back to the lobby on the first floor.As soon as he got out of the elevator, he took out his mobile phone and planned to upload a photo with me.I blocked the other person's phone camera and told him I didn't want to take pictures.

I just want to give my mother a surprise as a souvenir!

This, you take.

I took out the small metal plate of the deposit from my pocket and put it in the boy's palm.

There is a box, and the things inside, I believe, will be more surprising than a photo—if she was really my fan.

In this way, the cool touch of the metal plate is immediately a thing of the past.

Just like that, the contents of that box have nothing to do with me anymore.

The boy happily held the sign and walked into the elevator according to the floor instructions I gave.When the elevator door closed again, I turned around resolutely and walked towards the door.Compared with the confusion and fear when I walked into this place a few hours ago, I am more impatient at this moment, as if, from now on, there will be no more ties and obstacles in my life.

There is one thing that seems to have been forgotten by me for a long time.

That is, tears are so heavy, and memories can be so light.

●

Aaron felt his shoulders being shaken.

Unable to understand, he didn't notice that the policeman who called the hospital for him had already hung up the receiver, and at some point quietly stood by his side.Aaron raised his head absently.

"What is your relationship with Lin Guoxiong?..."

What?Aaron's eyes were slack, and he still couldn't get out of his memory.

"In the early hours of the morning, Lin Guoxiong suddenly suffered from heart failure. The head nurse told me just now that everything happened very quickly. The patient's condition was stable. They gave him first aid, but it didn't work—"

"Why would you ask us to call the hospital?"

"Wang Minglong, stand up."

"While this news is unfortunate, we still have to act in accordance with the law."

The two police officers seem to follow the written cross talk lines, and they speak in a clear and orderly way.

"This series of events cannot be purely coincidental."

"You lied to us from the beginning. Seeing you crying like this, you also said that you have nothing to do with Lin Guoxiong—?"

"Is it 'that kind of' relationship?"

"Are you two having a relationship or a financial dispute?"

"Did you team up to blackmail the legislators, so you sent the photos to the weekly magazine, and then there was a conflict over the distribution of the spoils? Before Lin Guoxiong had a stroke, did you have any beatings?"

"We have to turn you over to the District Attorney's Office."

Aaron opened his mouth in surprise, but couldn't say a word.

keep him?Do you really think you can take care of someone who may be permanently paralyzed?Tom said.

Or let him come with me?

Now only you can help us remove this enchantment.

Go get the songbook and the remote.It's very simple, but the dead just can't do it.There are also ghost paper and stove.Did you find where they are?

You must help them, and you are also helping Lao Qi and yourself.

Do you have the heart to see these idiots fall into the endless hell where they cannot be reincarnated forever? ——

I walked into your dream.I'm trying to take you out of your dreams.

Originally, he was still looking forward to the day when Lao Qi woke up, he would confess his love to him with such an opening.

(Is it because you know that once you wake up, it will be the end of MELODY, so you refuse to wake up?)

The moon was dark and the clouds were sinking.

After a sleepless night, his clenched fists gradually sagged due to fatigue.At this moment, he just wanted to lie down, but a certain thought suddenly pulled him ashore just a second before the drowsiness hit like a high tide.

He knows what he's afraid of.

The fear is that after closing his eyes, he will find sadly that from now on, he really no longer has dreams.

All the tense noises were turned into ashes in the entanglement of Naruto.

The regret of destroying a dream, or the torment of keeping the dream, which one will be the choice of the seventh child during his lifetime?

Or did you choose to go with Brother Tang because it was also suffering?

(I always thought that the two policemen in front of me colluded with the media. Could it be you who broke the news to the magazine?)

The hypnotized mind only needs one command to break through, and the dreamer wakes up and realizes that all this is just a dream, Tang Ge said.

You see, they all woke up.

Have you never heard of it before?This song is a taboo in the bar industry, and it cannot be played casually unless the business is closed.It worked.

next life?

I hadn't thought about this question.However, I met a ghost who was a shaman in his lifetime. He said that in our previous life, we died before we were adults, so there is no grievance and debt between men and women.What do you think?

Well, I might as well be gay in my next life.

I want to reincarnate life after life, and see which life we ​​can finally stop suffering.You have to live that kind of life to be content, don’t you think?

You can't finish the annoying dance steps, and you can't drink the intoxicating wine... This is a three-step waltz!After dancing this dance with my brother, it's a farewell...

how? Didn't Tony teach you that?

Aaron closed his eyes, and the moment when the burning paper money burst into flames came back to his mind.He will never forget the sight of those wandering souls in the house looking at the spreading fire, staring and shouting in horror but unable to make a sound.They trembled, and began to hug each other tightly, retreating step by step towards the corner, and finally all squeezed into the corridor where Lao Qi was lying unconscious.There was no way to retreat, but it made them calm down slowly.The flames reflected their pale faces red, and in their originally empty eyes, there were small flames jumping like the focus of death and resurrection.Lao Qi stood on the spot with his arms hanging down, looking up at the flames licking towards the roof.That scene, for some reason, made Aaron think of the fairy tale of Jack and Douman for a moment.That posture of looking up, one would think it was a little boy waiting for something at a sudden glance.Perhaps what he was thinking at that moment was whether he would meet that lonely giant again by climbing the ever-extending flame seedlings?Or is he sure that in the end there will be giants falling through the roof and falling from the clouds?What happened in the world at the top of the magic vine will be a secret between him and the giant from now on, and only they themselves will know forever...

It's too late to ask Brother Tang, is Tony okay now?Already I heard the fire truck whining and whining its siren.

In my memory, that ear-piercing howl rushed out from the alleys in all directions, like a group of dream-eating beasts grinning and baring their teeth, rushing towards the ghosts fleeing from the flames.

- Complete the book

①? Refers to veterans who went to Taiwan with the Nationalist Government, Hokkien.

②?AndersonHaysCooper, American journalist, writer and TV host.

③? A concubine other than a wife, Hokkien.

As if in an ignorant/enchanted city-state

Wang Dewei

I need a love story - it's just my survival instinct, no escape. ①

Guo Qiangsheng is an important novelist of Taiwan's hardcore generation. In recent years, he has been widely acclaimed for his gay-issue novels "Son of a Walker in the Night" ([-]?The upcoming "Date" represents another important breakthrough in his creation.In these works, Guo Qiangsheng described the obsession, hatred, greed, and resentment of the gay world, and explored the twists and turns of the erotic territory; if he had enough power, he even extended the love of forbidden sex to the level of history and nation, as a metaphor, and also as the sharpest point of life. witness.Guo Qiangsheng likes to tell stories.His narrative clues are dense, full of conflicts and coincidences in the theater style, and even have a sense of reasoning.However, the contents of his stories are always gloomy and beautiful, full of ghosts and twists and turns.These characteristics reached a critical point in the new work "Date".

Guo Qiangsheng's writing started very early. In [-], he published his first novel collection "Companion".This collection of novels contains his creations from high school to university, and there are many traces of his work, but the youthful atmosphere revealed in his pen is touching.After that, the themes of "Take Out Your Handkerchief" and "Don't Dance When You're Sad" expanded, basically still belonging to the style of urban love.In the mid-[-]s, Guo Qiangsheng went to the United States to study drama, and after returning from his studies, he became famous in the theater.Although he never left the literary circle, it was not until "Sons Who Walks the Night" that he officially reappeared as a novelist.

"Son Who Walks the Night" is a collection of 13 short stories by Guo Qiangsheng after [-] years of creation.The story begins in the gay world in Huayang, New York, on the eve of the September [-] bombing of the World Trade Center building.This world is full of parties, drugs, makeup, and endless erotic competition.But the carnival in Sodom could not dispel the depression and impetuosity in everyone's heart. The ominous feeling started from the disappearance of a Taiwanese student and spread to other stories.These stories are interrupted and continued, and the scene is transferred from New York to Taipei's Qijo Street and [-] Park.The "sons of the night" described by Guo Qiangsheng indulge their desires in the dark abyss and lick their scars.The anxiety of fleeting youth and the sorrow of inhuman encounters are all shattering.They yearn for love, but their love cannot see the light of day.Like ghosts and ghosts, they searched and searched, but found nowhere to return.

"People in a Confused Country" is Guo Qiangsheng's first novel.Using the clues of a "Wansheng" Japanese director who returned to Taiwan to make films in the [-]s, Guo Qiangsheng laid out a story from the colonial period to the post-colonial period.The time spans from [-] to [-], and the characters include Japanese "Wansheng", mainland fathers, second-generation non-provincial mothers of aboriginal mothers, and Japanese-American "Second Generation".They belong to different era backgrounds; but all are deeply troubled by national identity.They are not natives, but "confused" villagers.

In the process of constantly changing identities, Guo Qiangsheng boldly highlights the dislocation relationship of colonization, generation, and blood relationship with gay passion.For him, only the same-sex desire or taboo can really touch the mutual imitation (mimicry) complex between the colonizer and the colonized.Who is the abuser and who is the masochist is intriguing. "The Man in the Confused Country" is also a novel with a ghostly color.Reality and supernatural ebb and flow, and the film in the novel as a medium of magic and fantasy are both external and internal.

So far, it is not difficult for us to see Guo Qiangsheng's ambition to manage gay themes.On the one hand, he presents the images of contemporary and transnational gay beings, on the other hand, he explores the buried memories from the depths of history.Although the young writers who were famous for "Companion" and "Don't Dance When You're Sad" wrote heterosexual love with ease, it seems that they can't escape the formula of laughing and laughing.Reading novels such as "Sons Who Walks in the Night" and "The Man in a Confused Country", we suddenly feel that the writer is now old and has the urge to confess his feelings.His stories are exaggerated and colorful, and often reveal helpless desolation.He not only tells about passionate love, but also treats the bitter fruit of love with a cold eye.Absurdity and emptiness permeate between the lines of his words.Faintly, we feel that this is the story of a "sad" person, as if everything is not enough for outsiders.

*

Perhaps it is such a "sad" feeling for writing books that prompted Guo Qiangsheng to write another novel "Days of Time" in just a few years.No matter in terms of style, characters, and plot arrangement, "Date" has improved to a higher level. Although "Son of the Night" has established the gloomy tone of his comrade's three books, it is a combination of fragments after all, and it is difficult to describe the depth of the characters' inner transitions. Although "People in a Confused Country" has a huge historical dimension and has won the award (Golden Tripod Award), it lays out themes and clues too much, and the allegory is more important than anything else.In "Date", Guo Qiangsheng chose not to do something.He still has one — no, three — good stories to tell, but chooses to focus on specific characters.He also no longer draws on the historical narrative of "The Man in the Confused Country", but his reflection on time and the passage of life is better than before.

Xiao Zhong, the protagonist of "Dawn", used to be a folk singer and turned into a music producer.Xiao Zhong is also an AIDS positive carrier.Back in high school, Xiao Zhong was seduced by his classmate Yao in a ignorant situation.Xiao Zhong has a crush on Yao, but the latter is elusive and takes all men and women.Years later, the two reunited, and everything was unbearable.Xiao Zhong, who is ill, is hopeless, while Yao is happily married and is an important member of the "Congress".But is this really the case?

At the same time, a vision occurred in a dilapidated gay bar in Chitiao Street, Taipei.The boss Lao Qi has a stroke suddenly, and there are people and ghosts in the bar.The novel also introduces the story of Aaron, a cashier at a supermarket.A-Long loves Xiao Min, a prodigal woman, but remains interested in the ups and downs of the gay bar, and gets involved in the accident of Lao Qi's stroke...

If readers feel that these three clues are already very complicated, this is just the outline of the story.Each clue extends to sub-clues, in which the characters are intertwined with each other to form a believe it or not plot network, which is interlocking and has the interest of a mystery novel.Guo Qiangsheng likes to tell stories, which is evident.Those who know it may think that Guo's story seems too legendary, but we might as well think from another direction.In Guo Qiangsheng’s words, “I need a love story—it’s just my survival instinct, there’s no need to escape.”

The torment of falling in love with someone does not come from not being able to get it, but because of being unable to speak, talking to oneself constantly, and fearing that there will be no more stories between the two.The master of symbols turns love into meaning, meaning into text, and text into a system, because there is an unspeakable story in the end.

——"Son of the Night" ③, page [-]

Why must love be interpreted in a story-like way?According to his writings, there is a love so "unspeakable" that it can only be expressed in the most roundabout way.Or the power of love is so mysterious, isn't it just as unbelievable as the story?Or more existential, no matter how earth-shattering a love is, once it is spoken, it is nothing more than a story, or a "story" that's all.

In "Date", Guo Qiangsheng seems to intend to make his story more self-centered.Despite the superficial complexity, he ultimately deals with how his characters deal with their pasts—or even past lives.The title of the novel "Diagnosis", as the name suggests, has already pointed out the "threat of perplexity" of time.Xiao Zhong, who appeared as No.1, seems to be the clone of the narrator.Xiao Zhong knew that there was not much to come, and looking back on the stumbling adventures of the first half of his life, he could only sigh devastated—everything must pass.Retrieving the past, he understood that a humiliating sexual encounter in high school was actually the initiation of the most unforgettable love in this life.The unceasingly cut and chaotic love is the source of pain and confusion, and it is also the starting point of the narrative.

But the real pivotal character of the novel is Yao.Compared with Xiao Zhong, Yao Zhouxuan is a mysterious figure in the world of the same sex and the opposite sex, between the ruling party and the opposition party, as well as between the upper class and the lower class.He also finds it difficult to say goodbye to the past, and seeks a way to reconcile in the most violent and even twisted ways.Yao is strong, but deep in his desire, he has an unspeakable "addiction".At the end of the novel, the story takes a sharp turn, and Yao is actually involved with all the clues.If time goes back, Xiao Zhong and Yao may not be able to become partners.But it's all over.Not only did Xiao Zhong and Yao go their separate ways, but they also had to go their separate ways.

In this regard, we return to Guo Qiangsheng's "Companion" in 30, the first work of the young writer.The protagonists in the story all have the androgynous beauty of Adonis (Adonis), and the teenagers at that time really didn't know how to feel sad.All romance is nothing but sentimental whispers.However, looking back at "Date" in [-], we have hindsight.It turns out that the clear and beautiful text of "Companion" is the prelude to the sad narrative in the future, and those beautiful boys are destined to roll in love and become lonely ghosts who cannot survive.Looking back on the [-] years of creation, it is like a collision between the past life and the present life. No wonder Guo Qiangsheng feels overwhelmed by the vicissitudes of life.

*

The description of gay subjects in modern Chinese literature can be traced back to the May Fourth era.Ye Dingluo ([-]-[-])'s "Boyfriend" ([-]) describes the ambiguous relationship between a male teacher and a male student, which is both real and sentimental.Lu Yin ([-]-[-])'s "Old Man on the Seashore" ([-]) describes the feelings and inevitable loss of college girls, and lightly highlights the bewilderment of same-sex friendship.From today's point of view, these works wander the edge of love and imagination, but only to the point.The descriptions of gay relationships in mainstream discourses basically follow the moral stereotypes.Important examples include "Rabbit" ([-]) by Lao She ([-]-[-]) and "Chongyang" ([-]?) by Jiang Gui, etc.The latter projected the cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party in the [-]s to the homosexual love relationship, melting lust and politics in one furnace, which is unique in modern Chinese novels.

But when it comes to the breakthrough of contemporary gay novels, we have to give credit to Bai Xianyong.From the "Taipei People" series in the [-]s and [-]s, such as "The Sky Full of Shining Stars" in the "Taipei People" series, and "A Journey to Fire Island" in the "New Yorker" series, Bai Xianyong wrote about the restless desire of an era and the ethics of this desire. , Political coordinates.The publication of "Niezi" in [-] was a milestone in gay literature, and it also heralded the sudden rise of gay literature in the [-]s.

In this context, how do we view Guo Qiangsheng's works?If "Niezi" and Guo's Comrade Three Books are juxtaposed, it is not difficult for us to find similarities and differences between generations. "Nie Zi" deals with the gathering and separation of the gay circle, and it is still difficult to get rid of the division of family and country ethics.In contrast, Guo Qiangsheng's gay relationship flows like quicksilver, and his characters permeate all levels of society, living multiple lives in various identities.Both writers write about alienation, exile, infidelity, and an inescapable sense of guilt, but Bai Xianyong is far too merciful.He can always imagine some kind of (not necessarily mainstream) ethical power, which serves as the convergence point for the escape and return of the villains in his works.Guo Qiangsheng's Son of the Night is unwilling or unable to find a way to settle down.In the hustle and bustle of the end of the century and the beginning of the century, they seem to have more space for themselves, but at the same time reveal a deeper loneliness and sadness——

As night fell, the tribe gathered in front of the cave, and everyone exchanged hesitant glances.The torch in his hand was so weak compared to the darkness and desolation around him.Without data reference, we can only make assumptions based on feelings.Whether change will be better is always an unknown adventure.

Some people stay, some people go on the road.Diaspora and migration, each formed a new tribe in a different settlement, danced different dances, and worshiped their own gods.

Some people decide to come out, and some people decide not to come out; some people come out but live a stable life, and some people come out but are scarred.There are many people who can't face being accused and would rather marry a wife and have children.There are more people who would rather fall in love again and again than be alone.All decisions, in the end, are not really choosing which kind of happiness, but more like choosing which kind of suffering they would rather suffer...

——"Dating the Dynasties", pages 92 and 93

Guo Qiangsheng's writing actually reminds us of two important works of the [-]s, Zhu Tianwen's Notes of a Desolate Man ([-]) and Qiu Miaojin's Montmartre Posthumous Letter ([-]).Both works use the form of self-confession to interpret the relationship between him (she)/me in the gay world. "Notes of a Desolate Man" ponders the interaction of physical and physical growth and decline of lust, while "Montmartre Posthumous Letter" reveals the most alluring and dangerous possibility of love as a thing.The two works are very different in dialectical eroticism and writing logic. "Notes of a Desolate Man" explores the possibility of writing as redemption, the possibility of "I write, therefore I am". "Montmartre Posthumous Letter" is an out-and-out letter of death, because the author completed the inscription of the text with his own death.Both works are quite self-consciously performative.The former uses female writers' "cross-dressing" as gay men's writing to deduce the fluidity of gender roles; the latter brews writing into a (real) death event.

As mentioned above, Guo Qiangsheng's works are full of performance, and this performance leads to his ethical concern.But what he cares about is not Zhu Tianwen's literary metaphysical theater, nor Qiu Miaojin's decisive life/writing performance.His derivation of gay ethics is manifested in his interest in the genre of mystery novels. The use of reasoning elements can already be seen in "Son of the Night" and "The Man Who Confused".It was in "Dating the Dynasties" that Guo really elevated the feature of this genre to a metaphor for the relationship and identity of the characters in the novel.In the gay world, everyone plays a role that is recognized by society or that they want.This is the world of acting and even drag, but also of spy versus spy.Even if the two sides meet naked, it is difficult to recognize each other's bottom line.

For Guo Qiangsheng, the bottom line of reasoning is not who is gay or not, but the truth of love.This is the place where "Date" is the deepest.If "love" represents the ultimate expression of the "intimate" relationship in modern life, what Guo Qiangsheng portrays is a paradox.The flow of love and desire in the gay circle often uses the body and youth as bargaining chips. How can there be any real feelings at all?The moment of "truth revealed" between comrades does not bring about the declaration of love, but embarrassment, exile, or even death.But on the contrary, Guo Qiangsheng also believes that because this kind of love is so unreliable, don't those lovers who take risks and die before they die, are they more witnesses to the power of love?

Swinging between these two extremes, the story of "Date" progresses in multiple directions.The meaning of the ending must be understood by the reader.For Guo Qiangsheng, "Date" should mark the consolidation of his creative experience.The pain of youth and the sadness of middle age have become layer after layer of accumulation. How to excavate and analyze it is not easy.As early as in "Son Who Walks the Night", he has frequently paid tribute to modern Western gay writers such as Oscar Wilde, Marcel Proust, and EMFoster, reflecting on their difficulties between writing and desire course.Through "Dating the Dynasties", he has opinions and thoughts, and he also looks back on the road he came from.There is a history of the past in the absurd words; looking back, it has been a hundred years.He created a city-state of ignorance—and a city-state of enchantment.

postscript

Guo Qiangsheng entered the Foreign Languages ​​Department of National Taiwan University, and I had the honor to be his tutor.During my four years in college, Johnson gave me the impression that he was extremely smart, well-behaved, and personable.When I graduated from senior year, Johnson & Johnson published "Companion". At his request, I gladly wrote a preface to it, and I hope it will continue.How did you know that the teachers and students at that time were actually as naive as they were.

In the mid-[-]s, Johnson went to New York University for advanced studies, and I happened to be teaching at Columbia University, so we had the opportunity to meet again.I remember he invited me to see several Broadway plays, and I often saw him at parties.I even arranged for him to teach at Columbia University for several years.After he returned to Taiwan, I transferred to Harvard and gradually lost contact.

After returning to Taiwan, Johnson was keen on theater writing and directing. Unexpectedly, in the past few years, he has returned to writing novels;When I read Johnson's works, I often feel uneasy, not because the content is so sensational, but because the narrator's posture is so gloomy and desolate, and he is completely different from the young college student in my impression who seems to have no sense of sorrow.I couldn't help being concerned: How has he been doing these years?

In his new work, he frequently pays tribute to the generation he grew up in, which makes me feel sympathetic.Remembering that his college English composition is a novel, and the content is sad, so I am very puzzled.Our teacher-student relationship is one thing, but there is obviously another Johnson as a novelist who has had more life experiences over the years that I don't know about.Fiction and reality can never be distinguished.Reading his novels, as well as his prose that is closer to my own life, I seem to be re-recognizing-imagining-a writer's past and present lives.

Perhaps this is the charm of literature.Johnson & Johnson's new work is titled "Date", which seems to echo our sense of the past and the present.The former teenager is already middle-aged, who has no unspeakable past?Only words can witness the joy and sorrow along the way.I would like to add a few words to talk about the 30-year relationship between teachers and students.Bless Johnson.

① "Son who Walks the Night" (Taipei: United Literature, [-]), p. [-]. ——Original note

② "Imitation" (mimicry) certainly comes from the critical vocabulary of Homi Bhabha's post-colonial discourse. ——Original note

③? Guo Qiangsheng: "Son of the Night", first edition, Taipei, Lianhe Literature, 2010.

Awakened in the pain of the loss of innocence—

Guo Qiangsheng Interview

He Jingyao interview

He: The writing of "Dating the Times" broke through the single position of gay literature in the past, trying to stand on a higher point and a broader perspective, and review the history of gays in Taiwan.What does this writing angle mean to you?

Guo: I have always had doubts about the label of gay literature.Like, how would you define it?Are there gay characters in the work?Do I need to verify my identity, I am gay, so what I write is called gay literature?The readers are gay, so it is classified as gay literature?Even, is gay literature just a vassal of the gay movement?As a creator, I don't first think about whether this is gay literature, but I just take seriously the topics that I think are worth thinking about.From the perspective of a literary creator, I explore how these gay characters view their own growth and how to deal with the changing environment.People nowadays are easily stimulated by short-term passion, and then they pass without a trace.Cutting into Taiwan's changes in the past 30 years from a gay background can help me bring out an important concept - since the [-]s, Taiwan has often been in the anxiety and hesitation of "lost innocence and passion".This is very similar to the gay movement: many topics that were previously controversial and not discussed by the public have been revealed, but how to proceed next?In an environment like Taiwan, where martial law is suddenly lifted and a "president" is elected, the next big question is: what else can we believe?The past authoritarian brainwashing, the burden of the nation, and the old identity were all taken away. It was so relaxing, and I was excited for a while, but found that there were more problems that followed, which were more difficult to deal with than imagined.

He: So it is actually more like a novel describing the times?

Guo: I think writers must be constrained by their own times, but at the same time the most important task of writers is to observe their own times.The greatest shock and pain for people of our generation is knowing that the world is not what it seems on the surface, so why should we believe it?After the loss of innocence, after the passion, what is there to believe in?The way I found is a literary treatment, not treating it as a movement issue, but pulling these issues into a literary re-creation.Really speaking, this is a novel about time and memory.If you say that "Dating Times" is viewed from a higher and broader perspective, I would say that this is a return to the origin of thinking in literature.I want to rearrange the cause and effect through my present point of view.I might not have been able to do this kind of writing ten years earlier.After I returned to Taiwan in [-], I have also experienced the passion of the times for more than ten years, but if creators dance with it, they may not be able to write.I also didn't start to calm down until [-].Literature needs to be precipitated, which is very different from the real-time of the Internet.So far, I have been dealing with such a settled mood in "Son of the Night", "The Man Who Confused" and "Date".Therefore, I will not design a narrative style or strategy to limit myself, but let the subject matter test whether I can find a different way of writing.

He: "Date"