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Taiwan Literature: English Translation Series, No. 46 ( Special Issue on Contemporary Poetry from Taiwan)

Kuo-ch'ing Tu and Terence Russell (eds.)

PublishedNovember, 2020
Binding平裝 / 21*14 / 272pages / 單色(黑) / 英文
PublisherUS-Taiwan Literature Foundation & National Taiwan University Press
SeriesTaiwan Literature: English Translation Series 46
ISBN978-986-350-415-3
GPN1010901259
Price NT$480
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This issue contains the verse of twenty-four poets.
From 1924, when Hsieh Chun-mu first published four “Poems in Imitation,” the development of new poetry in Taiwan has a history of almost one hundred years. The roots of new poetry in Taiwan with its “twin flower bulbs,” to use the phrase coined by Chen Chien-wu, has now bloomed and borne fruit. It manifests diversified themes, and places great stress on both artistic expression and social concern. It recognizes globalization as the major trend of the times, and maintains a dynamic balance between nativist consciousness and the ensibilities of the Chinese cultural diaspora. Taiwan literature and its new poetry written in Chinese should have a place in the Chinese world community,as well as in the history of world literature. Limited by the space allowed for the journal, we could only select works related to “local” and “quotidian” writing. Yet we hope to observe through these works the manner in which the unique charm and gracefulness of contemporary poetry from Taiwan has blossomed in the garden of world literature.

【About the Editors】

Kuo-ch'ing Tu, born in Taichung, Taiwan. His research interests include Chinese literature, Chinese poetics and literary theories, comparative literature East and West, and world literatures of Chinese (Shi-Hua wenxue). He is the author of numerous books of poetry in Chinese, as well as translator of English, Japanese, and French works into Chinese.

Terence Russell is Senior Scholar in the Asian Studies Center at the University of Manitoba. He has an interest in contemporary literature in Chinese, especially the literature of Taiwan's Indigenous people. Dr. Russell has been a regular contributor to Taiwan Literature: English Translation Series, and was the guest editor of Issue 24 on Taiwan Indigenous myths and oral literature.

Horng Shuling was born in 1962 in Taipei City. She has a Ph.D. from the Graduate School of Chinese Literature of National Taiwan University (NTU) and is currently a professor in the Chinese Literature Department of NTU.

【About the Translators】

John Balcom teaches at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey. His most recent translation is My Village: Selected Poems, 1972–2014 by Wu Sheng, published by Zephyr Press.

Chang Fen-ling received her B.A. in English from National Taiwan Normal University. A prolific literary critic and award-winning translator, she has translated into Chinese over thirty volumes of poetry with her husband Chen Li. She has also translated two books of Chen Li's poems into English, Intimate Letters: Selected Poems of Chen Li and The Edge of the Island.

Yingtsih Hwang is an independent scholar and translator based in Monterey.

Brian Skerratt is an assistant professor at the Graduate Institute of Taiwan Literature and International Cultural Studies at National Chung Hsing University, Taiwan. His research and teaching focus on modern and contemporary poetry in Chinese, comparative poetics, and ecopoetics. Before joining Chung Hsing, he taught at the Centre for China Studies at Chinese University of Hong Kong. He was a Fulbright Senior Scholar at National Chengchi University and a postdoctoral researcher at the Institute of Chinese Literature and Philosophy at Academia Sinica. He received his Ph.D. from Harvard University with a specialization in modern and contemporary poetry in Chinese. His publications include articles such as “Born Orphans of the Earth: Pastoral Utopia in Contemporary Taiwanese Poetry,”“Hsia Yü Buys a Computer” and “Zhu Guangqian and the Rhythm of New Poetry.” His translations of Macanese writer Un Sio San's poetry, Naked Picnic, are published by CUHK Press.

Terence Russell is Senior Scholar in the Asian Studies Center at the University of Manitoba. His research interest is in contemporary literature in Chinese, especially the literature of Taiwan’s Indigenous people. His publications include studies of Adaw Palaf, Auvini Kadresengan, and Syaman Rapongan. Dr. Russell has a strong interest in translation and translation theory, and has been a regular contributor to Taiwan Literature: English Translation Series. He was the guest editor of Issue 24 on Taiwan Indigenous myths and oral literature, and now serves as co-editor for the journal. His literary translations include novels by award-winning Chinese author Zhang Wei: September’s Fable (2007) and Seven Kinds of Mushrooms (2009); and most recently, The Spirit of Jade Mountain, by Husluman Vava (forthcoming).

Foreword to the Special Issue on Contemporary Poetry from Taiwan／Kuo-ch’ing Tu
「台灣當代詩專輯」卷頭語／杜國清
Selections of Contemporary Poetry from Taiwan: The Local and the Quotidian—Introduction to the Special Issue on Contemporary Poetry from Taiwan／Horng Shuling
台灣當代詩選：地方與日常「台灣當代詩專輯」導言／洪淑苓

Poetry

I. The Convergence of Life Experience and Historical Memory　生命經驗與歷史記憶的結合

Chen Chien-wu 陳千武(1922–2012)
　Poem of Childhood 童年的詩
　Carrier Pigeon 信鴿
　Mazu’s Birthday 媽祖生
　An Old Two-Story House 古屋小樓
　Fingernails 指甲
　The Drummer’s Song 鼓手之歌

Lin Hengtai 林亨泰(1924–)
　Subtropics No.1 亞熱帶(1)
　Subtropics No.2 亞熱帶(2)
　Village 鄉村
　Rest at Sunset 日入而息
　Village Opera 村戲
　Life 生活
　Landscape No.1 風景(1)
　Landscape No.2 風景(2)

Xiang Ming 向明 (1928–)
　Tumor 瘤
　Hide-and-Seek 捉迷藏
　Lesson One 第一課
　Plant in a Hanging Basket 吊籃植物
　Tattered Army Blanket 破軍氈
　A Kite Brought from Across the Sea 隔海捎來一隻風箏

Cheng Chiung-ming 鄭炯明(1948–)
　I’m a Bird of Thought 我是一隻思想的鳥
　Drum 鼓
　A Musical Note Reborn—On the Kaohsiung 228 Memorial 重生的音符――記高雄市二二八紀念碑
　Immortal Soul—For the Writer Yeh Shih-t’ao 不朽的魂――向文學家葉石濤致敬
　The Boat—For Shihong 船――焚寄拾虹
　The Screen of the Sky 天空的布幕
　Prayer to Death 死亡的祈禱

Bai Ling 白靈(1951–)
　Kite 風箏
　Mountain Temple 山寺
　Childhood I: The Forties 童年之一――四十年代
　Childhood II: The Fifties 童年之二――五十年代
　Springtime Comes to Taipei 春天來臺北小住
　The Evening Paper 晚報
　Kinmen Kaoliang 金門高粱

Chen Ichih 陳義芝(1953–)
　Rainy Taiwan 雨水台灣
　Invisible Rash 隱形疹子
　Private Room in a Cafe, the 1970s 雅座七○年代
　Pseudonyms for Hualien 花蓮的筆名
　Jade Mountain in Winter 冬日玉山

Lu Han-hsiu 路寒袖 (1958–)
　Solitary Standing Flower 孤挺花
　My Father Was a Train Engineer 我的父親是火車司機
　Half-Gauge Train 五分車
　Needle 針
　The Wardrobe 衣櫃
　Gazing at the Rain in April 四月望雨
　Seventh Lord and Eighth Lord 七爺八爺

Walis Nokan 瓦歷斯．諾幹 (1961–)
　Cherry Blossoms 櫻花
　Down the Mountain 下山
　About the Atayal 關於泰雅
　Education in One’s Mother Tongue 母語教學
　ID 身分
　Grandfather’s Title Deed 祖父的地契

Chan Tah Wei 陳大為(1969–)
　A Kingdom Full of Phantoms 盡是魅影的城國
　In East District 在東區
　Younger Days 前半輩子
　In the South Seas (excerpts) 在南洋（選五）
　　In the South Seas 在南洋
　　All Summer, On the River Bank 整個夏季，在河濱
　　Took Hold of His Palm 接下了掌紋
　　“Chan Tah Wei” in Simplified Characters 簡寫的陳大為
　　In Taipei 在台北

II. Taiwan’s Town and Country from the Perspective of“Place”「地方」視角下的台灣鄉土與都市

Tu Kuo-ch’ing 杜國清 (1941–)
　At Guanwu Gazing Afar to the Shei-pa Sacred Ridgeline 觀霧遠眺雪霸聖稜線
　Forest Bathing 森林浴
　Gazing Up at Jade Mountain 玉山仰眺
　Confessions of Island and Well 島與井的告白
　Climbing the Elephant Mountain Path 登象山步道
　Passing Through Da’an Forest Park 進出大安森林公園

Wu Sheng 吳晟 (1944–)
　Daybreak Scene 晨景
　Soil 泥土
　Map of Yams 蕃藷地圖
　The Poems Father Sometimes Writes 阿爸偶爾寫的詩
　The Burden 負荷
　I Will Not Discuss With You 我不和你談論
　He is Still Young 他還年輕

Lee Min Yung 李敏勇 (1947–)
　This City 這城市
　Sunday Afternoon at the Museum of Fine Arts 星期天下午在美術館
　City Phenomena 城市現象
　Street Scene 街景
　Underground Radio Station 地下電台
　Sunday Blues 星期天的Blues
　A Summer Afternoon in the Post-Cold-War Age 後冷戰年代一個夏日午後

Su Shao-Lian 蘇紹連 (1949–)
　Seven Feet of Cloth 七尺布
　Hanger 衣架
　The Razor 刮鬍刀
　Sketches of the Gaomei Wetlands in Bygone Days (selections) 高美濕地舊日掠影（十選二）
　　Oyster Racks 海邊的棚架
　　Intertidal Zone 潮間帶
　Walking the Gray Street―Recollections of a Town in Hard Times 在灰色的街道上步行―記蕭條的鄉鎮
　Retirement Psychology 退休心理學
　Laolao Pavilion—For Taiwan’s Immigrant Laborers 勞勞亭――寫外籍勞工
　Into the Creases of the City 進入城市的摺痕裡
　In the Unreal City 在不真實的城市

Li Yu-Fang 利玉芳 (1952–)
　Primeval Love—Sent to the Gaoping River 原始之愛――寄給高屏溪
　The Southernmost Point in Taiwan 台灣最南點
　Inside and Outside the Portiere 簾裡簾外
　Daughter of the Han People 漢人的女兒
　The Tropic of Cancer Slowly Passes through the Wetlands 北回歸線緩緩地穿越濕地
　We’re on a Badlands Journey 我們在惡地形的旅途上
　The Smell of Rain 雨的氣味

Ling Yu 零雨 (1952–)
　Thau-siann— In Memory of F 頭城――悼F
　What I like 我喜歡
　Train 1 火車(1)
　Train 2 火車(2)
　Train 3 火車(3)
　Train 4 火車(4)
　My Pastorale 田園
　Distant Places 遠處

Du Ye 渡也 (1953–)
　The Vermillion Cupboard 朱紅櫥櫃
　The Incense Burner of the Xuande Era 宣德香爐
　Images Carved from Wood 木刻神像
　The Tin Candlestick 錫燭臺
　Sketches of Chiayi—The Red-Hairs’ Well 嘉義速記――紅毛井
　Sketches of Chiayi—Fire-Chicken Rice 嘉義速記――雞肉飯

Chen Li 陳黎 (1954–)
　Imitations of an Atayal Folk Song (2 selections) 擬泰雅族民歌（選二）
　　History 歷史
　　The Moonbeam in the Valley 峽谷的月光
　Green Onions 蔥
　Microcosmos (6 selections) 小宇宙（選六）
　The Edge of the Island 島嶼邊緣
　Formosa, 1661 福爾摩莎．一六六一

Xiang Yang 向陽 (1955–)
　Water Song 水歌
　Fog Descended 霧落
　Small Station 小站
　Dad’s Bento Box 阿爹的飯包
　My Brother-in-law the Hand Puppeteer 搬布袋戲的姐夫.
　Beyond the Streets of Chiayi—For Chen Cheng-po 嘉義街外――寫給陳澄波

Chang Fang Ci 張芳慈 (1964–)
　We Are Here 我們在這裡
　Baby Sling 揹帶
　Life 生活
　National Southern Link Highway 南迴國境
　Winter in Shuanghsi 雙溪冬日
　Voice of the Conch—A Message for Lukang Elementary School 螺聲――寄語鹿港國小

Yan Ai-Lin 顏艾琳 (1968–)
　Parking Spot 車位
　Super Vending Machine 超級販賣機
　The Surrealism of Love 戀愛的超現實主義
　Monodrama 獨角戲
　Berry Kid 漿果小孩

III. Awareness of Reality and Poetic Imagination in the Quotidian 日常生活中的現實意識與詩意想像

Li Kuei-shien 李魁賢(1937–)
　Parrot 鸚鵡
　Sparrows 麻雀
　Blood Transfusion 輸血
　Stone Tablet 碑

Hsiao Hsiao 蕭蕭(1947–)
　Four Breaths of a Flower’s Scent 花香四息
　The Wind Enters the Pines 風入松
　What’s on the Mind of Tea 茶葉的心事
　One Tea Leaf 一葉茶
　Sun Moon Red Tea 日月紅茶

Horng Shuling 洪淑苓(1962–)

　Earthquake Diary 地震日記
　Sparrows 麻雀二題
　Written in Lukang for My Daughter 在鹿港寫給女兒
　On the Breakfast Table 早餐桌上
　The Rocks of Time ― On the Basalt Columns of Penghu 時間之岩――詠澎湖玄武岩

Lee Chin-Wen 李進文 (1965–)
　The Independent Travels of a Spanish Coin 一枚西班牙錢幣的自助旅行
　Like the Light in a Chagall 長得像夏卡爾的光
　Sun Yat-sen and I: October Tenth, the One Hundredth Year of Our Republic 國父與我――中華民國一○○年十月十日
　The Little Joys 小美好
　Song of the Puyuma 普悠瑪之歌

About the Translators
About the Editors
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Foreword to the Special Issue on Contemporary Poetry from Taiwan

Kuo-ch’ing Tu

Taiwan Literature: English Translation Series, launched in 1996 as a biannual journal, is devoted presenting works in English translation reflective of significant literary developments and prominent writers in Taiwan, with a primary focus on fiction. For more than two decades, it has been our intention to introduce contemporary poetry as well, to introduce another important dimension in the history of Taiwan literature. Now, with the publication of this special issue, we have finally made some progress towards this goal.

The historical development of Taiwan’s poetry before the imposition of Japanese rule in 1895 was closely related to trends in Chinese classical poetry during the late Qing period (1662–1911), be it shi (verse) or ci (lyrics). This is evident in a series of collections of verse from that period published by the National Taiwan Literature Museum, including Quan Tai shi [Complete Collection of Taiwanese Verse, 12 volumes, 2004], Quan Tai fu [Complete Collection of Taiwanese Rhyme-prose, 2 volumes, 2006], and Quan Tai ci [Complete Collection of Taiwanese Lyrics, 3 volumes, 2017]. As for the emergence of new poetry in colloquial languages, this was clearly due to the combined influence of Hu Shi (1891–1962), who advocated a new poetry in colloquial Chinese, as well as to Japanese literary trends during the Meiji period (1868–1912), with the genbun ichi yundō (unification of writing and speech movement) and the publication of Shintai shishō [Collection of New-Style Poems] in 1882. Hu Shi’s Changshi ji [The Experiments], published in 1920, was the first collection of new poems in colloquial Chinese, while Zhang Wojun’s Luandu zhilian [Love Poems in a Chaotic Capital], published in December of 1925, just five years later, was the first collection of new poems in Taiwan, and there are correspondences between the two. However, the first Taiwanese poet who attempted to write new poems, even though in Japanese, was Hsieh Chun-mu (1902–1969, penname Zhui Feng), who published four short poems under the title “Shi no mane suru” [Poems in Imitation] in April, 1924, more than a year earlier than Zhang Wojun’s collection. Thus, Hsieh can be regarded as the originator of new poetry in Taiwan.

For this special issue, we asked Professor Horng Shuling of the Department of Chinese Literature, National Taiwan University, to serve as guest editor. Professor Horng’s expertise is folk literature in classical Chinese and modern poetry. The purpose of this issue is not to present a systematic historical trajectory, nor to trace all the literary trends in vogue during given eras of the past. Rather, we hope simply to highlight the diverse and multiple features of contemporary poetry from Taiwan and to advance the case for considering that the special characteristics of this verse warrant placing it in a unique position among world literatures in the Chinese language.

Professor Horng’s introduction provides a concise summary of her intention to focus on two main issues: the characteristics of modern poetry from Taiwan, and the major themes that concern contemporary Taiwanese poets. Regarding the characteristics of modern poetry from Taiwan, her views are brief and to the point, as we can observe from the following remarks:

1) With regard to its historical development, we may invoke the words of the poet, Chen Chien-wu, who asserts that Taiwan’s new poetry has two sources: one sprouted from Taiwan’s new literature carried on from the period of Japanese rule. The other is the spark of China’s new poetry in the vernacular brought to Taiwan by the poets who moved there from the mainland after World War II.

2) As far as the path forged by new poetry in Taiwan is concerned, from the 1920s under Japanese rule, through until 1945 and after the war, the basic dynamic is a confrontation between two main literary trends that rise and fall in relation to each other: realism aimed at reflecting nativist consciousness and social realities, and modernism, which pursued odernity and innovative artistic expression.

3) In terms of the actual developments and transformations that occurred in the context of poetic circles, the greatest feature was that poets of like mind, devoted to a common cause, gathered in groups to form poetry societies and publish coterie magazines in which they issued their creative works and poetic views. Through such media, various contentions and literary “isms” gained currency for varying lengths of time, displaying the diversity and vitality of poetic styles among contemporary poets in Taiwan.

Based on the selected works of twenty-four poets, Professor Horng further explains the common themes that most concern contemporary poets in Taiwan. From those themes she summarizes three main viewpoints and then goes on to discuss the inner world explored by those poets based on those viewpoints:

A poet reveals his or her inner world through written expression, which the reader savors through reading the works. Professor Horng deduces the following three themes through which we may explore the inner world of the contemporary poets of Taiwan:

1) A merging of life experience and historical memories;

2) Hometowns and cities in Taiwan seen from a “local” perspective;

3) The consciousness of daily life realities intersecting with poetic imagination.

Viewed from the above three perspectives, we can see that after the baptism of modernism during the 1960s, and the reflections on nativist literature debated during the 1970s, modern poetry in Taiwan after the 1980s evolved as a combination of realism and modernism, and displays both the local sense of the nativist consciousness and the artistic awareness of the modernist school. We find these characteristics fully represented in the poems selected for this special issue.

This issue contains the verse of twenty-four poets. The oldest, Chen Chien-wu (1922–2012), belongs to the generation who crossed the language barrier from Japanese to Chinese. In the history of new poetry as it developed in Taiwan, Chen Chien-wu and Lin Hengtai represent the bulb of a flower carried over from the Japanese rule, while Xiang Ming, who migrated to Taiwan with the Nationalist government, represents the mainlander poets who, as claimed by Ji Xian, brought with them the spark of the new poetry from China. This latter group maintained that blood is thicker than water, and the attachment to Chinese culture can be found in the works of many poets of the 1940s and 1950s. The Taiwanese consciousness of most of the other poets, has become more and more conspicuous with the passing of the generations.

Ethnic consciousness also appears among non-mainland Taiwanese. In addition to the ethnic consciousness of Hoklo Taiwanese, whose ancestors came to the island from Fujian province, there are works that express the ethnic consciousness of Hakka, Indigenous peoples, and new immigrants. For Hakka poets, we have selected Chang Fang Ci and Li Yu-Fang. As to the voices of the Indigenous peoples and new immigrants from Southeast Asia, we selected Atayal writer Walis Nokan and Chan Tah Wei from Malaysia as representatives. In other words, as far as ethnic consciousness is concerned, the selected poems from the twenty-four poets in this volume embody the mindset and cultural proclivities of the broad spectrum of the Taiwanese populace, from mainland Chinese, to Hoklo, Hakka, Indigenous, and new immigrants. From the works selected, Taiwan’s open society, and its diverse, globalized cultural phenomena are revealed.

In short, as Professor Horng has pointed out in her introduction, starting from 1924, when Hsieh Chun-mu first published four “Poems in Imitation,” the development of new poetry in Taiwan has a history of almost one hundred years. The roots of new poetry in Taiwan with its “twin flower bulbs,” to use the phrase coined by Chen Chien-wu, has now bloomed and borne fruit. It manifests diversified themes, and places great stress on both artistic expression and social concern. It recognizes globalization as the major trend of the times, and maintains a dynamic balance between nativist consciousness and the sensibilities of the Chinese cultural diaspora. Taiwan literature and its new poetry written in Chinese should have a place in the Chinese world community, as well as in the history of world literature. Limited by the space allowed for the journal, we could only select works related to “local” and “quotidian” writing. Yet we hope to observe through these works the manner in which the unique charm and gracefulness of contemporary poetry from Taiwan has blossomed in the garden of world literature.

For this special issue, we are very grateful to Professor Horng’s well-conceived planning in the selection of twentyfour poets, while recognizing that incompleteness is hardly avoidable and that, regrettably, many excellent works are left out. For translation, Professor John Balcom and Yingtsih Hwang’s continued assistance and unfailing support as professional translators is particularly appreciated. Professor Brian Skerratt, from the Graduate Institute of Taiwan Literature and Cross- Cultural Studies at National Chung Hsing University, has joined us, and the contribution of his expertise in modern poetry and Chinese-English translation has greatly enriched our translation team. My co-editor, Terence Russell, copy editor Fred Edwards, and office assistants at the UCSB Center for Taiwan Studies, Angela Borda and Raelynn Moy, have provided essential assistance and their devoted efforts deserve my special gratitude. In this issue, the authors and selected titles have far outnumbered those of previous issues, and that has necessitated considerable extra work throughout the editing process. Since last March, due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, and under the state order to shelter in place, communication between those involved in the editing work had to be shifted entirely online. This is inefficient and inconvenient and forced us to delay the publication date. But thanks to the understanding and cooperation of National Taiwan University Press, this issue can now finally go to press, and I herewith express my sincere appreciation to everyone who has contributed to achieving that goal.