“Czechoslovakia, this communist country, is composed of two ethnic groups with two languages in common use. One is Czech, and the other is Slovak.”
This is how Iap tsioh-to (Taiwanese: Ia̍p tsio̍h-tô, Mandarin: Yeh Shih-tao) wrote at the beginning of his introduction to Czech literature in 1984. Iap is the most prestigious critic and writer in Taiwan, building up the theoretical framework of Taiwan literature. Since then, literature in Taiwan is no longer viewed as a branch of Chinese literature.
There have been many changes during the forty years. The Czech Republic and Slovakia are no longer under communist regimes, and Taiwan has gone through the days of martial law and transformed into an island with democracy.
Forty years later, Taiwan became the host country of The Authors’ Reading Month, one of the largest literary events in Central Europe, organized by the Czech publishing house Větrné mlýny. Thirty-one Taiwanese writers are invited to four cities across the Czech Republic and Slovakia, including Brno, Ostrava, Košice, and Bratislava. In these four cities, there will be a Taiwanese writer holding a book event throughout the entire July.
Why did the writer in Taiwan focus on Czech literature 40 years ago? The clues may lie in the similar situations that writers in these two countries face.
Finding Their Own Voice Between Superpowers
In Iap’s article, he spent a considerable portion introducing Czech history, starting from the Duchy of Bohemia in the 9th century. This history is closely linked to the writing system. Beginning with the Glagolitic script, it took another 300 years for Czech to have a standardized writing system. It was not until the Bohemian Reformation that literary activity in the Czech language became widespread across the land.
However, Czech literature did not develop smoothly since then. The Hapsburg dynasty controlled this land for nearly 300 years. German gradually became the language of the elite and education, leading to the decline of Czech. Iap paid special attention to the process of Czech intellectuals resisting Germanization and the role of Romantic poetry in the revival of the language.
What does it mean to establish a literary tradition? How do language, nation, and ethnicity interact? Iap tried to find lessons from the history of Czech literature. Writers in Taiwan writing with native languages also face similar issues that the Czechs experienced at that time.
During the Japanese regime, Taiwanese faced their first “National Language Movement.” Japanese was the language in school, and people were encouraged to have a Japanese name. It was then that Taiwanese writers tried to build a writing system for Taiwanese.
“You are Taiwanese. You stand under the sky of Taiwan, tread on the land of Taiwan. You see the circumstances of Taiwan with your eyes. You hear the news of Taiwan with your ears. The time you experience is the experience of Taiwan, and the language you speak is the language of Taiwan. Therefore, you should write Taiwanese literature with your robust and flourishing pen.” — Ng Tsiok-Hui 1930
How should Taiwanese literature be written? There was a furious debate at that time, known as the Taiwanese Vernacular Polemic . However, the war came, and all these efforts were suddenly interrupted.
Monument of Stalin in Prague (from Wikipedia)
Taiwan and Czech Between the Wars
In 1915, Franz Kafka, born in Prague, published “The Metamorphosis.” He is the most well-known “Czech writer” to Taiwanese people. However, it is somewhat awkward for “Czech literature” as most of Kafka’s works were written in German.
At that time, Czech and German were the two main languages used in Bohemia. Under the Austro-Hungarian Empire, people had been fighting for education in Czech. The Charles-Ferdinand University, known as Charles University in Prague now, was divided into German and Czech universities at the time.
Kafka attended the German Charles-Ferdinand University. In Prague, the ways of life and political opinions of the Czech and German-speaking communities were significantly different. As a Jew, Kafka was caught between the two. He could use both languages, but his education was primarily in German.
After World War I, Czechoslovakia declared its independence and was born as a democratic republic. Encouraged by the vision of US President Woodrow Wilson, the wave of national self-determination reached Taiwan. Tsiunn Ui-Sui (Taiwanese: Tshiúnn Ūi-súi, Mandarin: Chiang Wei-shui), a physician and activist, established the Taiwanese People’s Party and played a crucial role in the resistance movement against Japanese rule.
Bohumil Pospíšil, a citizen of the newly born Czechoslovakia, traveled to Taiwan. He was the first person from Czech to step on the island. Pospíšil was welcomed by hospitable Taiwanese after he landed in Keelung. He was also invited by Tsiunn Ui-Sui to deliver a speech on the independence of Czechoslovakia. Bohumil Pospíšil became the spotlight of the press, being asked how it was like to travel in Taiwan. “It was torching hot…” he replied to the reporter.
A exhibition on Bohumil Pospíšil in the National Museum of Taiwan History (from Facebook page of the Museum)
Left and Right, Freedom Deprived
The time of freedom was brilliant but short. During World War II, Czechoslovakia was occupied by Nazi Germany. After the war, the communist party seized power, and the country became a satellite state of the Soviet Union.
After the surrender of Japan, Taiwan was taken over by the KMT (Kuomintang or Chinese Nationalist Party), the ruling party of China. However, the KMT lost to the Chinese Communist Party in the civil war. The KMT fled to Taiwan and imposed a dictatorship with martial law. Dissenters, leftists, and Taiwan independence activists were imprisoned or executed. The KMT enforced another “National Language Movement.” Mandarin was the “national language” this time. Both native Taiwanese languages and Japanese were forbidden and not allowed to be published. Bibles written in Taiwanese POJ were confiscated.
In the era of the Cold War, it seemed that Czech and Taiwan stood on opposite sides, the left and the right. Nevertheless, freedom of speech was deprived in both places. Censorship on publications was enforced, and informants were deployed into society.
In “The Unbearable Lightness of Being,” Milan Kundera depicted the lives after the 1968 Prague Spring. Tomáš, an intellectual and surgeon, moved to the countryside after he likened the Czech Communists to Oedipus. But he found the small town unfamiliar, with the streets named after Russian places or people.
It is also the case in Taiwan. In Taiwan, you can find streets named after cities in China and former dictators. The original names were deprived and gradually forgotten.
Statue of Chiang Kai-Shek, the dictator and leader of KMT. Hundreds of street was named after him in Taiwan.
Books Translated from Czech to Taiwanese
Being on opposite sides during the Cold War, there was little diplomatic and cultural exchange between Czech and Taiwan. Most famous Czech fiction was published in Taiwan via translation from China. Subtle differences can be told, as the language in these books is not the daily language of Taiwan.
Relations between Czech and Taiwan changed dramatically during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Mayor of Prague visited Taiwan, and the Czech Republic donated 30,000 doses of vaccine to Taiwan. The Cultural Minister also supported the translation of literary works from Czech to Taiwanese. “Kytice” is one of them.
Taiwan translation of “Kytice”
“Kytice” is a collection of folk ballad poems compiled by Karel Jaromír Erben in the 18th century. He tried to seek myths and tales from the land. It brings to mind the “Anthology of Taiwanese Folklore” edited by Li Hian-tsiong (李献璋, Taiwanese: Lí Hiàn-tsiong, Mandarin: Li Shianzhang) in 1936.
However, the “Kytice” published in Taiwan was translated in a Chinese tone, resembling the style of the early Republic of China period. Like it or not, after the National Language Movement, Mandarin has become the majority language, with different phrases and constructions evolving from Chinese Mandarin. For a work like “Kytice” with such a historical background, what kind of language style should be used for its translation in Taiwan?
Anthology of Taiwanese Folklore (From the open museum website of Taiwan)
A professor from the translation team wrote a preface for “Kytice.” In this preface, she wrote about the history of the pursuit of the Czech spirit and the function of literature in consolidating community consciousness. However, the “Four Great Chinese Folktales” were used as a comparison to introduce “Kytice” to Taiwanese readers, which felt somewhat awkward.
Translation is a two-way process that involves understanding both the other and oneself. What is Taiwan? What is the tradition of literature in Taiwan? These questions still haunt modern Taiwanese society.
