The huge Taiwan Pavilion at the fair, held from Oct. 14 to 18, presented five major events with authors, aimed at attracting international interest in Taiwan's publishing sector. The number of publications on display at the Taiwan pavilion reached an unprecedented number of 1,630 items—both traditional and digital—presented by 108 exhibitors under the slogan 'Infinite Taiwan,' demonstrating strong evidence of Taiwan's prowess in the Chinese-language publishing world.
According to Linden T.C. Lin, chairman of the Taipei Book Fair Foundation, Taiwanese publishers presented a broad cross-section of books, including fiction, nonfiction and children's books in both Chinese and non-Chinese languages.
"Children's books from Taiwan and books on Taiwan's history and culture are very popular, although the recession seemed to have dampened demand," Lin said in an interview at the fair.
Lin underscored the economic significance of Taiwan's book industry, saying that it accounted for roughly 1 percent of the island republic's GDP. But Lin also admitted that sales at the fair had been lower this year than in 2008, when the full impact of the global downturn had not yet been felt.
Nevertheless, the fair afforded Taiwan an opportunity to project itself as a driving force in the Chinese-language publishing community. Mainland China, Taiwan's biggest market for Chinese literature, was presented as a "partner country" by the book fair organizers. But the sharp competition from China, which is known for its low-end mass production publishing, was blunted by Taiwan's superior quality publishing, characterized by diversity, free expression, vibrancy and creativity.
Taiwan recruited the services of Rudolf Wagner, a professor at the Institute of Chinese Studies at the University of Heidelberg, and Ulrike Draesner, a German writer and poet, to host the events that featured five popular Taiwanese authors. This approach, according to Lin, increased the interaction between local visitors and speakers, besides providing Taiwanese authors an international platform and enabling global visitors to understand Taiwan's culture.
Lin explained that one of the important goals of Taiwan's participation was to encourage its publishers to actively participate in the fair as exhibitors, thus not only helping present the rich diversity of Taiwan's publishing industry but also promote licensing deals. While direct sales were down somewhat, many exhibitors said response to licensing opportunities was “positive.”
To help get things started, the TBFF joined forces with the Taiwan government’s Council for Cultural Affairs in publishing German editions of the "Modern Taiwan Poetry Collection" (“Moderne Poesie aus Taiwan - Der Humor der Wolken”) and "Contemporary Taiwan Novels" (“Taiwan erzaehlt - Prosa von heute”).
A section at the Taiwan Pavilion that attracted much attention from the public was the “Poignant Poetry of Taiwan,” with poems from the 1930s up to the present day. Featured poets included some who began writing in Taiwan before the end of the Japanese occupation in 1945, some who were first active in mainland China, as well as some who began to make their mark in the new millennium. The diversity of their works confirmed Taiwan as a focal point for the convergence of various poetic traditions.
When it comes to Chinese-language literature, Taiwan and China are “two sides of the same coin.” As one German writer said privately, mainland China's participation as a "partner country," to the horror of many German writers and intellectuals, became unwieldy as it used every available opportunity to prevent dissident writers and others from speaking at the event, causing considerable embarrassment to the book fair organizers. As a major international publishing fair, Frankfurt also pursues the objective of encouraging freedom of expression.
Indeed, Beijing even tried to stop some books on Taiwan cooking recipes from being exhibited because these were seen as "anti-Chinese," a view that seemed to surprise even its German supporters. The mainland also tried—unsuccessfully—to prevent Rebiya Kadeer, president of the World Uighur Congress, from speaking at a crowded press conference where she was given a standing ovation by both German and non-German listeners, with some even shedding tears, after she addressed them. Mainland China's "big brother" attitude at the event was condemned by many German and non-German writers, with strong words coming from the PEN writers' group.
Taipei-born David D.W. Wang, professor at the Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations at Harvard University, attempted to clarify the position of dissident writers in the tensions surrounding literature from mainland China and Taiwan.
Commenting on the growing number of Chinese dissident writers, some of whom live in Taiwan, Germany and the United States, Wang asked: "Dissident mainland writers do not have a home. Is it (their home) Taiwan, Germany or the USA?"
Wang, who has a doctorate in comparative literature, writes in both Chinese and English. Because of the commonality between the two sides, Wang urged greater dialogue between Taiwan and the mainland. Wang also touched on the question of China's treatment of dissident writers.
"I sympathize with the Chinese government. Understandably, it is concerned about its dissident writers. However, if the Chinese Government was confident about its position, it would be magnanimous to allow critical writers like Bao Ling and others to speak," Wang said in an interview.
Mainland China, Wang said, had "changed a lot" and was trying to be "more liberal." "People (in China) do have some freedom. But if you are talking about freedom of expression, then you cannot talk about partial freedom of speech," he maintained.
Chinese writers, according to Wang, were establishing a "fictitious and imaginary element that appeals to readers in Taiwan and China" due to a great degree of shared culture and history, despite ideological and political differences. "However, even if these writers have a common heritage, Chinese writers in countries of Southeast Asia and elsewhere, for instance, do not necessarily accept China as the motherland," Wang said.
For him, homecoming was a "sacred thing." Han Chinese settlements are found around the world, so many Chinese have had to deal with issues of identification. "The diaspora is already part of the Taiwan homecoming experience. Diaspora does not mean you do not have a home. China and Taiwan literature are not mutually exclusive," he asserted.
—Manik Mehta is a free-lance writer based in New York.
Copyright © 2009 by Manik Mehta
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