Fieldwork: Highways, Villages and Peoples

分享我在原住民族語言研究發展中心進行的借詞研究田野調查。

Fieldwork

Over past two months, I was constantly on the road, traveling from one  village to another, one hill to another. 

My task was to collect as many loanwords as possible from every indigenous people that I visited; however, my collection so far has reached way beyond the scope of a research report on loanwords.

What I have learned about loanwords from indigenous elders is the subject of my presentation in the first annual international conference organized by ILRDC (Indigenous Languages Research and Development Center). The date is December 27th (Saturday) and the venue is with National Taiwan Normal University in Taipei, Taiwan. 

So, I will skip that serious part of the story here and focus on the highways, villages and peoples. Or precisely, the things that make me want to return and stay. I think I can become a farmer, too. 

Preliminary Study of Loanwords in Taiwan's Indigenous Languages

Presented at National Dong Hwa University on October 25, 2014.

Lamuru Pakawyan (Pinuyumayan)

2013年臺灣原住民族文學獎小說第二名：卑南族林嵐欣的"不，她不是我的Vuvu"。

In addition to my work at the Indigenous Languages Research and Development Center, I also occasionally take translation projects, though I specifically choose projects related to indigenous peoples only. 

This is not bias, for those who tend to tag me as plagued with Chinese-phobia. I have just this amount of time and energy; I choose where to make the best use of my contribution. 

The latest project I completed was translation of short stories written by debut indigenous writers in Taiwan. All of these stories won either the first, second, third or recommendation prize of Annual Formosan Indigenous Literature Award sponsored by Council of Indigenous Peoples and Shan-hai Cultural Magazine Publishing Association. In other words, they are like the Formosan counterparts of Maori stories I introduced earlier in "Huia Short Stories 10: Contemporary Maori Fiction", "Bugs" or "Zhu Mao". 

Among the stories I translated, the second-prized story by a young writer from the Puyuma Nation, Lamuru Pakawyan (or Lin Lan-Hsin 林嵐欣 by her Chinese name), literally stopped me in the middle of my work. Disregarding the public space where I was in, I just could not stop my tears. I cried and I sobbed until the point of exhaustion when I could no longer work with the text. I only resumed the next morning. 

This young writer may not intend to incite such strong sentiment in her readers. Nevertheless, her story has that kind of power for those who have experienced the same thing. Those who understand will cry. Her story is called "No. She Is My Vuvu"; it is included in the 2013 Anthology of 4th Formosan Indigenous Literature Award (photo). 

From CIP to ILRDC

有關原住民族語言研究發展中心。

No. 63 Sec. 1 Roosevelt Road 100 Taipei Taiwan

This trapezoid of multiple colors and a waistline would certainly catch admiration of many in the city of Architect Antoni Gaudí of Barcelona. See how brave it is just to be so different in this desertland of concrete and steel! 

Unfortunately, standing here in the center of Taiwan's capital right next to the shrine of Chinese General Chiang Kai-shek, this building did not earn what it deserves. Instead, people think it odd and bad feng-suied, perhaps even much lower than a building of mosquitoes. Difference is not appreciated, but what of it? It cannot be stopped.

Welcome to the Story Tower of Taiwan's Indigenous Peoples. Welcome to the nucleus where many beautiful stories about indigenous languages are to be brought to the world. Welcome to Indigenous Languages Research and Development Center.

Zhu Mao (Pig Hair) by Mark Sweet (2011)

Another novel completed under Te Papa Tupu Program, the six-month intensive writing program sponsored by The Māori Literature Trust, Te Waka Toi and Te Puni Kōkiri (with help from Huia Publishers), Zhu Mao (2011) has a red cover and an even redder content. 

Though I had had it on the shelf a bit earlier than Bugs, its bloody China kind of red cover discouraged me from picking it up. Even the fact that red has always been my color cannot help.

There is a reason behind the red cover. The author Mark Sweet traveled to China in the 1980s and found the setting of the story at Wudangshan, the birthplace of Chinese martial art Tai Chi. Though he enjoyed his trip and inspiration, why he left New Zealand in the first place was not as enjoyable. As 'Zhu Mao by Mark Sweet' (10 October 2011) quoted from the author himself, he was fleeing from the country's outright rugby racism. A hot blood; no wonder the cover.

The World until Yesterday (2012)

Jared Diamond's latest New York Times bestseller (2012) has a beautiful title 'The World until Yesterday' and a not so beautiful subtitle 'What Can We Learn from Traditional Societies?'. My view. 

Don't get me wrong, though. I am not discrediting the lessons to be learned from New Guineans or Native Americans or Pacific islanders or the Dinka and the Nuer. I am simply saying while the title 'The World Until Yesterday' invokes imagination like 'two roads diverged in a wood' (Robert Frost) or 'out of lemon flowers loosed on the moonlight' (Pablo Neruda), the subtitle 'What Can We Learn' appeals to reason like many self-help books on the shelf. Obviously, in terms of style, I vote for the former.

Is that perhaps the secret? Mixed yin and yang and a sharp contrast that dangles your judgement? After all an obvious riddle can be tasteless; so, at least make a catchy title. Either way, not much attention has been paid to the main title honestly. Instead, people argue fiercely about its subtitle. The Corry-Mazower Critique climaxes this contention. 

Bugs (2013)

I bought this novel during my first trip to New Zealand. We were then in the windy and hilly city of Wellington, attending 2013 Pikihuia Awards in the midst of Maori writers as well-known as Ms. Patricia Grace herself. She was kind enough to have group phtos with us.

The Pikihuia Award is a biannual event in which contemporary Maori talents of genres are recognized and encouraged to carry on their trade. In addition to announce the winners of the year, the host organization Huia Publishers also uses this opportunity to launch the latest novel by a writer who previously earned herself via another competition a grant to finish a story within six months. 

In the year I visited, they launched the Bugs. That is, the second novel by a young Maori female writer Whiti Hereaka. She was born in Taupo, where the first and largest Maori tribe landed. I've seen her town; she describes it as "A place that is 'picture perfect' on the surface but is still bubbling with destruction below".

Experience at National Scholarship Examination for Studying Abroad

Presented at National Taiwan University on May 23, 2014.