This thesis explores alternative ways for English literature students in Taiwanese Science Universities to choose more culturally accessible works in addition to the canonical English and American literature. Currently, many students consider their experience of reading Western literature to be both perplexing and frustrating because of inadequate language capability as well as unfamiliarity with Western culture. The rationale for introduction to works emerging from the Chinese diaspora is to enable students to situate their personal experiences within the context of different cultures, but ones that nonetheless have accommodated Chinese communities and values. Bearing this in mind, choosing English language works from within the Chinese diaspora is a natural progression and is based on the assumption that its content shares the same cultural identity that Taiwanese students are already familiar with. My hope is to provide teaching strategies for literature teachers of Taiwan to consider. The learning culture in Taiwan tends to dissociate the self and sentiments from the learning experience. Accordingly, it is hard for them to express their own feelings within the learning environment. In this thesis I try to address these problems through examination of Rosenblatt's transactional theory (1995), and exemplification of the theory through Nussbaum's literary exegesis of Henry James' Golden Bowl. I then attempt a parallel study of Wayson Choy's The Jade Peony (1995) as an example of how a work from the Chinese diaspora might be used in a Taiwanese classroom. I argue that the application of transactional theory could enhance meaning making in English literature classes for Taiwanese students. The thesis concludes with a discussion of strategic emphases for teachers of English literature in Taiwan.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.99380 |
| Date | January 2006 |
| Creators | Lu, Liang-Yuan, 1962- |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Master of Arts (Department of Culture and Values in Education.) |
| Rights | © Liang-Yuan Lu, 2006 |
| Relation | alephsysno: 002574616, proquestno: AAIMR28565, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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