Literature – Taiwan Insight

Representing the Unrepresentable: Cinema, Politics, and The Century Bloodshed Controversy

19 March 2026 NGA Shi Yeu

Written by Meng-Hao Li. The author describes the controversy surrounding the Taiwanese film The Century Bloodshed, inspired by the unresolved 1980 Lin family massacre. Responding to Wim Wenders’ claim that cinema should remain separate from politics, he argues that film inevitably engages with power and memory. Through debates over the film’s genre, his remarks, and the director’s background, the essay explores the ethical limits of representing historical trauma and Taiwan’s ongoing struggle to confront the legacy of the White Terror.

Rosettating Between Minoritised Languages: How Taiwanese Readers Respond to Intermediated Translation

22 September 2025 Chee-Hann Wu

Written by Naomi Sím. The article introduces “rosettation,” a method of translating between minoritised languages like Tâigí and Gaelic via dominant ones. The Tâigael project explores linguistic solidarity, reader responses, and political tensions. Rosettation emerges as both a pragmatic strategy and a literary experiment, which enables new forms of intercultural dialogue despite inherent compromises.

Tâigael: Orchids, Maternal Care, and a New Rosetta Stone

15 September 2025 Chee-Hann Wu

Written by Hannah Stevens and Will Buckingham. The article introduces Tâigael: Stories from Taiwanese & Gaelic, a translation project linking two minoritised languages through English and Mandarin as bridges. Writers reflect on linguistic solidarity, maternal legacies in “mother tongues,” risks of reinforcing hierarchies, and ecological fidelity in translation. Together, their essays highlight translation’s generative, resistant, and collaborative potential.

My PhD Mentor, Tu Laoshi

11 June 2025 Chee-Hann Wu

Written by Linshan Jiang. This memorial essay reflects on the author’s time with Professor Tu Kuo-ch’ing, a deeply influential poet, scholar and the founder of the Center for Taiwan Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara, who passed away earlier this year. His passing left a profound and unexpected void. This essay shares how Professor Tu introduced the author to Taiwanese literature and supported her academic journey.

Teasing Romantic and Literary Appetite: Reading Taiwan Travelogue

23 April 2025 Chee-Hann Wu

Written by Mu-Hsi Kao Lee. The article explores the experience of reading Taiwan Travelogue as a translated historical yuri novel. Kao Lee reflects on how the narrative, despite its clear genre and straightforward plot, evokes a sense of both satisfaction and longing in the reader. The article highlights the story’s ability to interweave historical and cultural details with the protagonists’ emotional connection, examining themes of desire, identity, and the complexities of relationships within a specific historical context.

Savouring Taiwan’s History and Experience: Reflections on the Taiwan Travelogue and Its Book Talk

16 April 2025 Chee-Hann Wu

Written by Tun-Jung Kuo and Li-Ting Chang. This article reflects on a book talk discussing Taiwan Travelogue, highlighting how the novel uses food to narrate Taiwan’s colonial history, cultural hybridity and female perspectives. Through detailed depictions of cuisine and memory, it challenges historical narratives and deepens understanding of Taiwan’s evolving identity amid Japanese colonial influence and localisation.

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