The brutal struggle between free will of humanity and historical force has long been a controversial and intriguing subject in the discussions of literature. The point, however, lies not in which side wins eventually, but in exploring what happens in the process of struggle. Viewed from the perspective of literary development, it is quite clear that each different literary movement in postwar Taiwan provides their own unique understanding of the relationship between man and history, between social agency and historical transformation, and ultimately between history and fiction.
This course will be divided into four parts, and each of them dealing with specific historical issues or events. Historical Figures Fictionalized, the first part, deals with how historical figures, such as Song Qingling [宋慶齡] and Chen Yi [陳儀], are treated in fiction. History and (Post-)Colonialsim, the second part, as well as History and Politics, the third part, both try to discuss how past experiences have been represented from different ideological point of view by different writers. Finally, History and Social Movements, the fourth part, will take a close look at how writers explain the failure (or success) of certain social movements after they have long perished. In short, all the four parts try to explore the complicated interactions among history, human experience, and literary mind.
長久以來，在討論文學時，人類自由意志與歷史力量之間的殘酷鬥爭一直深具爭議性與吸引力。然而，討論之重點並非何者於最終勝出，而顯然是在於深入探究兩者的鬥爭過程中發生了什麼事。從文學的發展史看來，顯然臺灣戰後不同文學運動都以獨特的方式去了解人與歷史之關係，社會動力與歷史變遷的關係，還有歷史與小說之間的關係。
此一課程將分為四個部分，每個部分都處理特定歷史問題或事件。第一部分是「歷史人物的小說化」，以歷史人物為討論中心，論及小說如何呈現宋慶齡、陳儀等人。第二部分「歷史與（後）殖民」與第三部分「歷史與政治」都試著去討論作者如何從不同的意識形態觀點去重現過去的人類經驗。最後，第四部分「歷史與社會運動」將深入檢視作家如何解釋那些早已逝去的社會運動之成敗。簡而言之，這四個部分都試著去探究歷史、人類經驗與文學心靈之間的複雜關係與糾葛。