Taiwanese novel Banana King Ngoo Tsin-Sui (蕉王吳振瑞) by Lee Wang-tai (李旺台) has drawn the attention of international literary critics, entering consideration for two separate awards.
The novel, translated by Timothy Smith, who is also a translator for the Taipei Times, was placed as the finalist in last year’s Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Awards for the Multicultural and Historical categories, and has been longlisted for the PEN Translation Prize.
Finalists for the PEN Translation Prize are to be announced before May 8, the day of the Literary Awards Ceremony in New York.
Photo courtesy of the Hakka Affairs Council
Lee said he wanted to accurately portray Taiwan and its people in his novels, and was delighted that his works would allow foreigners to better understand the country.
“I hope Banana King would advance to the final stage and beyond, and continue to move and draw in more international readers to learn about Taiwan and its history, tragedies and triumphs,” Smith said.
The novel’s message on authoritarianism and machinations of “malicious actors” is “pertinent and timely,” providing readers with food for thought on the current social and political developments around the world, as well as how fairness, justice and social uplifting are defined, he said.
The novel’s portrayal of the protagonist and his acquaintances’ resourcefulness highlights the tenacity and perseverance of all Taiwanese, he added.
Smith said part of the challenge in translating the book was the rendition of the original work’s use of Hoklo, commonly known as Taiwanese, alongside portions in Japanese and Hakka, maintaining characters’ perspectives and voices through their own language as they would have spoken it rather than through Chinese alone.
Smith expressed discomfort at “conceal[ing] or pav[ing] over these voices by only using Chinese,” adding that these elements tied into scenes depicted in the novel’s second part of “Chinese-language teachers and their [parochial] attitudes toward multicultural Taiwanese, and Taiwanese national identity and affinity.”
The historical novel is based on the story of Ngoo Tsin-sui (吳振瑞), who created a successful banana-based business that at one point provided the majority of Japan’s banana imports, but was later accused of corruption and jailed after becoming embroiled in political disputes.
Ngoo later received a private apology from government representatives.
While approached by others who sought to right a historical wrong, Ngoo chose to let the past stay behind him, spending his last years in Japan.
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday said it had deployed patrol vessels to expel a China Coast Guard ship and a Chinese fishing boat near Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. The China Coast Guard vessel was 28 nautical miles (52km) northeast of Pratas at 6:15am on Thursday, approaching the island’s restricted waters, which extend 24 nautical miles from its shoreline, the CGA’s Dongsha-Nansha Branch said in a statement. The Tainan, a 2,000-tonne cutter, was deployed by the CGA to shadow the Chinese ship, which left the area at 2:39pm on Friday, the statement said. At 6:31pm on Friday,
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN) third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, would pose a steep challenge to Taiwan’s ability to defend itself against a full-scale invasion, a defense expert said yesterday. Institute of National Defense and Security Research analyst Chieh Chung (揭仲) made the comment hours after the PLAN confirmed the carrier recently passed through the Taiwan Strait to conduct “scientific research tests and training missions” in the South China Sea. China has two carriers in operation — the Liaoning and the Shandong — with the Fujian undergoing sea trials. Although the PLAN needs time to train the Fujian’s air wing and
The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) put Taiwan in danger, Ma Ying-jeou Foundation director Hsiao Hsu-tsen (蕭旭岑) said yesterday, hours after the de facto US embassy said that Beijing had misinterpreted World War II-era documents to isolate Taiwan. The AIT’s comments harmed the Republic of China’s (ROC) national interests and contradicted a part of the “six assurances” stipulating that the US would not change its official position on Taiwan’s sovereignty, Hsiao said. The “six assurances,” which were given by then-US president Ronald Reagan to Taiwan in 1982, say that Washington would not set a date for ending arm sales to Taiwan, consult
A Taiwanese academic yesterday said that Chinese Ambassador to Denmark Wang Xuefeng (王雪峰) disrespected Denmark and Japan when he earlier this year allegedly asked Japan’s embassy to make Taiwan’s representatives leave an event in Copenhagen. The Danish-language Berlingske on Sunday reported the incident in an article with the headline “The emperor’s birthday ended in drama in Copenhagen: More conflict may be on the way between Denmark and China.” It said that on Feb. 26, the Japanese embassy in Denmark held an event for Japanese Emperor Naruhito’s birthday, with about 200 guests in attendance, including representatives from Taiwan. After addressing the Japanese hosts, Wang
RSS