簡媜於2002年出版的《天涯海角-福爾摩沙抒情誌》一書,擴大她散文書寫的高度與廣度。從童年記憶到少女心事,自我追尋到為女性發聲,進一步進行家族與國族歷史的書寫,從真實的父系與虛構的母族雙方面進行追溯敘述,最後回歸於臺灣島嶼的歷史風土,呈現出歷史散文的氣度,實乃她創作上的一個高峰。這不同她以往的愛情探問、女兒密語或道性追求等書寫領域,正說明他對自我寫作的要求與對臺灣這片土地、歷史與人物的關愛與憐憫。 本文欲爬梳的是簡媜以兩性雙重視野書寫散文,在時間軸上,對自己家族史書寫與臺灣島史的建構與關於自己的童年、少女成長史乃至於一個女性的生命史如何去記憶與書寫;而在空間軸上,對於自身的原鄉宜蘭與臺灣島這個土地上的認同,簡媜又如何呈現出她對臺灣島嶼的愛與同情;最後,在時間軸與空間軸上交會出一個「自我」存在,自我的追尋與身分認同,從童年、從家族、從國族,最後簡媜肯定人間美好的存在。
Tian Ya Hai Jiao, Chien Chen's book published in year 2002, has extended the height and width of her prose writing. From the childhood memory to the teenage secrets, from self identity to voicing for female, Chien Chen's tries to write about her family and the country's history. The different style of this book from her former works containing love exploring, female secrets and intellectual pursuits, explains her self expectation of writing and her love and passion for Taiwan's land, history and people. This article attempts to explore how Chien Chen recalls and writes as a androgyny, regarding time, the history of her family, the history of Taiwan, her own childhood, teenage days, and eventually her whole life; And regarding space, from her identity to the mother town I-Lan, and Taiwan, how she depicts love and sympathy to Taiwan. In the end, Chien Chen affirms the beauty of existence.