This thesis focuses on the novels of Chen Yingzhen with the intention of exposing the social practices that Chen Yingzhen desired to reveal through the medium of the novel applying textual analysis, which implies the notion of the reflection of time and society through literature and relies on a discourse between the theories of “the complex of writer consciousness” and “the three scenarios of existence of writers” proposed by Professor Yen Kun-Yang, and supported by a variety of specific social circumstances outside of the text itself. It is hoped that the social practices which Chen Yingzhen intended to exhibit through the medium of the novel can be expressed through this comprehensive method. In discussing his novels, the time period and social circumstances cannot merely be treated as objective circumstances. The time period, politics, society, economy, and contemporary trends in literature which surround the author are capable of influencing his or her worldview. His works were not only written for their artistic value. The greater intention was to write for regular people from all social classes. Writing was one of his ways to resist mainstream values and attempt to express a different voice, quiet perhaps, but unwilling to be ignored. In the novels of Chen Yingzhen, his critical perspective lies within the development of character personas and backgrounds. Chen Yingzhen believes that literature should have its own revolutionary effect and that literature can be relied upon to uncover social issues, possibly slowly, but he still attempted to participate in this process himself. It can be said that Chen Yingzhen reflected the crucial issues in contemporary Taiwanese society through his literature and that his literature was composed within society, for society.
