台東位居台灣後山的邊陲位置，交通不便，相對落後卻保有豐富自然資源，有著不容忽視的特殊性。美好山水為台東書寫作品所共同呈現的一大特色，離家遠去的遊子所召喚出的原鄉風光美麗壯闊，以入畫風光與母親形象為無法歸返的書寫者提供與過去記憶對話的想像空間；由「外在者」（outsider）轉換為「內在者」（insider）的移居者，則藉由理想的追尋與實踐，將遙遠他鄉轉化為真實桃源，體驗安適心境。台東書寫作品的惡土形象主要來自於先天的自然條件限制與後天人為破壞，早期集中於天災頻繁、地利貧瘠的先天苦難，後期作品則大力批判人為開發所造成的傷害，書寫主題移轉改變，土地所承載的人生困境卻始終如一。擺盪於美好的母土／夢土與醜陋的惡土之間，當今台東書寫所呈現出的矛盾形象，正反映了當地在現代化過程中所面臨的諸多難題。

Taitung is at the periphery of Taiwan. Although Taitung is inaccessible, the fact that it retains an abundant amount of natural resources cannot be ignored. A major feature of Taitung writing is its focus on beautiful landscapes. People far away from home behold the magnificent scenery and share blissful memories of it that connects them to memories from the past and bestows a mother image upon them. The reader internalizes the beauty imagery; thus, experiencing comfort and projecting an idealized notion of utopia onto the landscape. The badland imagery of modern Taitung writing appears from vandalism of the natural conditions of the land and focuses on natural disasters and barren land; it later focuses on a strong critique of the damage caused by human development. The theme changes, but the dilemma of this land is still the same. Constantly shifting focus between the beautiful mother land and the ugly badland, Taitung writing presents contradictory images as a reflection of many problems in the process of modernization.