Lit in Translation

Taiwan Travelogue

臺灣漫遊錄 · Taiwan manyou lu

Yáng Shuāng-zǐ (楊双子, born 1984)

Translated by Lin King

English editions

In English

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A train carrying war supplies runs down Japanese-ruled Taiwan in 1938, soon after war with China has begun. On board, a Japanese novelist from a noble family, Aoyama Chizuko, dressed in Western clothes, is seated next to Chizuru, her Taiwanese interpreter in a modest traditional top. They chat in Japanese like close companions, yet the line between coloniser and colonised separates them. Every one of the twelve chapters takes its title from a dish they eat together, from street snacks to banquet courses and sweets, and the meals chart how their bond changes, as when Chizuru makes Chizuko a bitter jute-leaf soup. In that era, could a woman from Japan and one from Taiwan ever meet as equals?

AI-generated summary

About the book

Form
Novel
Genres
Historical (assigned by AI)
Set in
Taiwan, 1938
First published
2020 by SpringHill Publishing
Author's age
36 when first published
ISBN

9781644453155 (Graywolf Press, United States)

9781916751651 (And Other Stories, United Kingdom)