Li Ang
Fiction Synopses
睡美男 Sleeping Panlink to publisher
李昂以她犀利、敏銳又華麗的文筆，在對女人有根深柢固的成見的荒原上，撒下衝破禁忌與偽善的花籽。《睡美男》顛覆了身體、性別、情欲、空間與年齡的一貫書寫，敏細後更年期女人對自身芳華消逝的悲涼，即使逐漸老去，內心仍保有對情愛、親密的渴望；然因身體凋落而終失去的性魅力，也透露出女人心底的自卑與巨大孤獨。紅顏如沙漏急速流失，青春的喪鐘蠢蠢欲響，《睡美男》喚醒後更年期女性的身體自覺，為人類欲求的回春點燃了熊熊烈焰。
With her incisive, acute and dashing language, Li Ang has planted seeds of subverting taboos and hypocrisy in a wasteland filled with entrenched prejudices against women. Sleeping Pan breaks away from the traditional way of writing body, gender, sexual desire, space and age, and delicately tells a story of a post-menopausal woman lamenting the loss of her youth. With an aging body, she still desires love and sexual intimacy, but the withering body has already lost its sexual appeal. What are left are the sense of inferiority and overwhelming loneliness. Beauty is just like the sand in the hourglass, and it vanishes quickly and the knell of the youth tolls restlessly. Sleeping Pan has awakened the self- awareness of post-menopausal women’s bodies and has ignited a fierce flame of human race’s desire for youth.
路邊甘蔗眾人啃
Everyone Takes A Bite out of Roadside Sugarcane
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寫女人與性的《北港香爐人人插》問世十五年後，李昂推出「男人、政治、身體」的《路邊甘蔗眾人啃》，用全新的敘述觀點，再次突破禁忌，出入台灣民主運動史，大膽解剖權力與性共生結構，並著墨台灣政壇千奇百怪之現象，向自我挑戰，為當代小說開啟新格局。
Beigang Incense Burner of Lust, a book about women and sex, was first published in 1997. Fifteen years later, Li Ang has launched her Everyone Takes A Bite out of Roadside Sugarcanes, a book about “men, politics and body. ” She once again has challenged the boundary of social taboos and used the history of the Taiwanese democratic movements to tell the story from a new perspective. Her boldness in dissecting the structure of symbiosis between power and sex reveals a wild scene of politics in Taiwan. She continues to challenge herself and create a new landscape of writing contemporary fictions in Taiwan.
附身
Possession
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眾生的膜拜，或神或魔的依附，皆因執著而沉淪。誰又能辨誰是誰非，誰是神明、誰是魔障？而像台灣這樣的島嶼，百千年來歷經荷蘭、清帝國、日本、國民黨政府所統治，每一個統治，都像是一種附身，島嶼留下一再被附身的印記、傷痕……台灣島嶼形同被一再附身。而我們，歷經的生生世世，在某種意義上來說，不也是一種附身？被一再附身的我們，被一再附身的島嶼，什麼可以是依歸？李昂試探生命、死亡 ﹔愛情 、親情的另類極致！
One’s downfall is caused by one’s persistent belief in either the god worship or spiritual possession. Who can tell the truth? Who can tell the difference between god and devil? An island like Taiwan was ruled by Netherlands, Qing empire, Japan and KMT government for the past hundreds years, and the island went through a process of being possessed in each reign and was possessed again and again, covered with scars and marks of trauma. Aren’t the islanders, from generation to generation, in some respects also going through the process of being possessed? Both the people and the island have being repeatedly possessed, so what could they depend on? Li Ang explored the idea of life and death,, romantic love and family love in an extremely unconventional way.
七世姻緣之台灣／中國情人
Marriage in Seven Lives: Entangled Love Affair of Taiwanese / Mainlander
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寫女性與愛慾見長的李昂，以近年來少見的行文抒情氣息，在神秘的宿命氛圍和浪漫感傷中，鋪陳一段累世不得解的怨咒下的愛情。而終來到了今生今世……
小說以現代台灣、中國的現況作為背景。故事主角一再相遇，是企盼心念造就的因？還是累世記憶重複的果？在無休止的因緣漩渦之中，牽發出故事主角刻苦銘心的悸動，不只一生一世，更道出人間情感藏匿於最幽微深處，難以言說的奧秘。
Li Ang, who is well known for writing about women and sexual desire, presents a love story with an unusual emotion. Adopting a mood of lyrical sentimentality and a belief in mysterious fatalism, Li tells a cursed and entangled love story that evolves through past lives to the present lives…The background of the story is set in contemporary Taiwan and China. The female and male protagonists have encountered each other time after time. Is it because of their longing for each other? Or is it the result of memories life after life? In the swirls of karma, there is a distinct beat of protagonists’ profound love in multiple lifetimes. It tells a love hidden in the most inner part of one’s heart, and a love that cannot be described.
鴛鴦春膳
An Erotic Feast For Lovebirds
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一種十分羅曼蒂克的憧憬，讓小說家李昂不惜全然投入、以身相許於飲食。
歷經全世界性的追逐美食尋找材料，六年來她精心調製了〈果子狸與穿山甲〉、〈咖哩飯〉、〈牛肉麵〉、〈珍珠奶茶〉、〈春膳〉、〈國宴〉、〈素齋〉等飲膳佳構，融會成她的第一部長篇飲食小說《鴛鴦春膳》。
Li Ang devoted herself to memories of delicious food and created a romantic vision of a feast. For six years, she has searched for gourmet ingredients all over the world and laboriously cooked up a delicious feast for us. An Erotic Feast For Lovebirds is her first novel on food.
花間迷情
Bewitching Love
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這個故事不只是關於女同志，而且是關於女人，關於女人之愛。在女性光譜中不同的女人，這光譜可以涵蓋從異性戀、雙性戀、同性戀到酷兒，這女性光譜中四個不同的女人，當男人在場∕不在場時，對自身的性、愛、身體與自我的追尋，交纏的愛與慾、幻滅與希望……
這是知名女作家李昂展現的女性世界。身為一個說故事的女子，她始終保持著清醒，這不只是迷惑住聽眾的秘訣，還是在亙古的黑夜裡讓自己以及一整個女性族群生存的秘密。
This story is not only about lesbians, but also about women, about women’s love. Women’s sexuality occurs along a spectrum--a spectrum that includes heterosexuality, bisexuality, homosexuality, and queer-identification. Four different women are searching for sex and love, exploring their bodies and identities on their own, with or without the presence of men. There is an entanglement of love and sexual desire, disillusion and hope. Famous writer, Li Ang, has revealed a female world to us here. As a female storyteller, she always stays sharp and lucid. This is not only a trick to fascinate her audience, but also a secret for her and the entire race of woman to survive in the eternal dark nights.
禁色的暗夜：李昂情色小說集
The Dark Night of Forbidden Desire: A Collection of Erotic Short Stories by Li Ang
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本書是李昂情色小說代表的精選集，包括五個短、中篇小說。
A selection of Li Ang’s best-known erotic fictions includes five short stories and novellas.
北港香爐人人插：戴貞操帶的魔鬼系列
Beigang Incense Burner of Lust: The Devil with a Chastity Belt Series
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台灣情慾小說的最佳引路人李昂，銳利地撕破傳統閨閣書寫意識，逼視情慾，耙梳邊緣化女性的陰暗面向。書中〈戴貞操帶的魔鬼〉、〈空白的靈堂〉、〈北港香爐人人插〉和〈彩妝血祭〉分別為四篇獨立的短篇小說，合則為長篇「戴貞操帶的魔鬼系列」政治小說。是李昂在九○年代，以女性身分參加反對黨運動的印象與反思。
Li Ang, a trailblazer of erotic fictions, ripped apart the traditional boudoir writing style. She glared into sexual desires and neatly presented a dark side of marginalized women. The Devil with a Chastity Belt Series, a political novel, includes four independent short stories, “The Devil with Chastity Belt,” “The Empty Mourning Hall,” “Beigang Incense Burner for Lust” and “Bloody Sacrifice with Color Make-up.” They are an impression and reflection of Li Ang’s participation in anti-party movements as a woman during the 90s.
李昂集
Selected Works by Li Ang
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當台灣由農業跨越到工業社會後，家庭解組，女性意識抬頭，文壇上於是出現不少「新潮、大膽」的女作家，李昂是最受爭議的一位。
李昂擅長於描寫性愛之前的男女雙方內心狀況，而且不時對我們社會中現存的男女關係做深刻的思考與檢討，使她的作品增加一層文學深度與社會意義。
When Taiwan transitioned from agricultural society to industrial society, family structures collapsed, and awareness of women’s rights rose. Therefore, many “untraditional and bold” woman writers entered the literary scene in Taiwan and Li Ang was the most controversial one.
Li Ang is brilliant at probing into the psyche of her male and female protagonists as they navigate their lovemaking. She constantly examines and reflects on the existing relationship between men and women in society. This adds depth to her literary work and has profound social meaning.
甜美生活
Sweet Life
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李昂對文學有一份真實的執著，能將時代所顯現的是非通過心理解析，以毫不放鬆的手法一一展示，劍及履及，時發同輩作者之所不能發，此書以相當完整的面貌代表了若干階段的她。
Li Ang has a true commitment to literature and by examining characters’ psyche, she often boldly reveals what is right and wrong on the subject matter of the era. This is something that her peers could not achieve. This book is representative of Li Ang’s life in certain stages.
一封未寄的情書
A Love Letter Not Sent
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本書所收作品為李昂最近完成的短篇小說全貌，進一步探索生命的困擾、叛逆、和救贖。李昂善於揭發愛情和性慾的糾纏，在彷徨抑鬱中肯定人性尊嚴，抨擊虛偽，哀憫無辜，其持續探索的勇氣廣受文壇注目，許為當前具有代表性的前衛小說家。此書除了肯定一貫的李昂風格外，又流露出難得的抒情氣息，令人時而震撼激越，時而不勝低徊。
This book collects all the recent short stories by Li Ang, and further explores life’s obstacles, the characters’ defiance and their redemption. Li Ang skillfully unveils the entanglement of love and sex, and in the midst of hesitation and melancholy, she recognizes human dignity, attacks hypocrisy, and sympathizes with the innocent. Her courage to persistently explore issues has grabbed the attention of literary circles and renders her the most representative avant-garde novelist in Taiwan. This book not only shows Li Ang’s usual writing style, but also reveals a rare sentiment. We cannot help feeling shock and sighing at the same time.
花季
Flower Season
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本書收短篇小說十篇，在時間上是作者進入文學世界過程中第一階段的創作全貌，以年輕好奇而精巧的心情觀察錯綜複雜的世界，體悟舊社會和新世界的虛幻，遂激盪出突兀驚人的現代風格，筆意在神秘幻想和現實嘲諷之間，有反抗和悲憫，也有詮釋和禮讚，奠定李昂當前廣受注目的精神世界和藝術風格，值得有心的讀者深入探討。
This book contains ten short stories. These represent the early stage of Li Ang’s writing career when she first entered Taiwan literary circles. Young Li Ang observed a complicated world with curiosity and an artistic mind. She unveiled the illusion created by the old society and the new world with an unexpected Modernist style. Her writing skirts the border between the mysterious fantasy and realistic ridicule, with resistance and sympathy, interpretation and praise. These stories established Li Ang as an author of the spiritual world with artistic style. It is the defining piece for her devotees.
她們的眼淚
Their Tears
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本書收小說七篇，探索生命的困擾、叛逆、和救贖，大膽揭發愛情和性慾的糾纏，在彷徨抑鬱中肯定人性的尊嚴，抨擊虛偽，哀憫無辜，善讀其書者可以在各種角色的笑靨和淚花中，發現她的小說肯定了五十年來臺灣文學內求的風貌，積極建立著現代文學深刻批判的格調。
This book contains seven short stories that explore obstacles, defiance and redemption in life. They unveil the entanglement of love and sex, and in the midst of hesitation and melancholy, there is human dignity, attacks on hypocrisy, and sympathy for the innocent. Through the characters’ bewitching smiles and melancholy tears, Li Ang’s devotees will see her efforts of a fifty-year- long soul searching in Taiwanese literature and building a critical tone in modern literature.
