Lai He known as the father of modern Taiwanese Literature wrote many novels to reveal the miserable life experienced by many Taiwanese, as well as their struggle with the Japanese government during the Japanese occupation from 1895 to 1945. The conflict between the Japanese colonizer and the Taiwanese colonized, which occurred during Japan’s colonization of Taiwan, as shown in his novels, is quite obvious; however, since the legal aspect in his novels has rarely been mentioned, this present paper will attempt to analyze the conflict in his novels about legal cases and concepts from the perspective of law and literature:
According to “The Study of Taiwanese Novels in the time of Japan’s Occupation (日據時期臺灣小說研究)” written by Xu Jun Ya (許俊雅), all of Lai He’s novels were written between January 1926 and May 1939. (1999: 145-147) Therefore, I will pay attention to the historical background of the law that was applied in Taiwan as well as the representation of law in Lai He’s stories during this period. The repression and conflict depicted in the novels as well as the reaction of the characters, and most importantly, the eventual victory, which is achieved by literary strategies, of the characters over Japanese colonial rule, will be examined.