Violación y resistencia en ‘‘Fang Si-Chi’s first love paradise’’

Abstract

This article studies the only book that Taiwanese author Lin Yihan (1991-2017) published in her lifetime: Fang Si-Chi's First Love Paradise (2017). This semi-autobiographical novel about the traumatic experience of a raped girl has sparked intense debate in China, where the awakening of female consciousness is increasingly evident. This article analyzes how the perpetrator uses status disparity to construct the lie of rape in order to control women to commit sexual violence, and how the protagonist is “killed” by society under the influence of social discourses created by gender power asymmetries. Furthermore, through its focus on the female subject, the research points to the harm suffered by women in rape and women's agency in coping with trauma. This article argues that the author makes literature as a weapon constitutes this book of resistance, which draws attention to the female subject, undermined and controlled by the power of male-dominated discourse. It provokes a reflection on the traditional patriarchal society.