This footnote has me thinking about so much & makes me angry at imperialism, colonialism, classism, etc …

4. Yáng: Under Japanese rule, Taiwan's early education system was divided into elementary schools (sho-gakkö) for Japanese Mainlanders and public schools (kö-gakkö) for Taiwanese Islanders. The elementary schools shared the same curricula as schools in the Japanese Mainland, whereas the public schools had courses in both the national language (Japanese) and local dialects. Seeing as the nationwide exams were conducted exclusively in Japanese, elementary school students had a greater advantage. Here, I-san is implying that since Ō Chizuru taught at a public school, her linguistic abilities may be inferior to those of a professional interpreter.

My Ah Zhou (Hokkien for great-grandmother) lived through this entire period (and from my understanding of what my family has told me) all forms of education for Taiwanese kids came with a price. Whether it was actual tuition (which kicked in during secondary school [roughly middle and/or high school equivalent]) or the kids not being able to work, farm, day labor, etc to bring their families income/money. Education has always been tied to class regardless if it was free or not — my Ah Zhou was completely illiterate in any language & only spoke Taiwanese Hokkien and Japanese; it was assumed girls didn’t “need” an education so the resources would be “wasted” on them (though this might have just been my family’s perspective since they were very poor and had no political/corporate/governmental affiliations for support or favors). This even carried into my Ah Ma’s (grandmother’s) generation; though my Ah Ma and her siblings received primary school educations, only my Ah Ma’s brothers continued to secondary school.

The dynamic and positionality of Chizuru, Aoyama, and many of the other characters are continuously making me think about all the many layers of what stories get to be told + through what lens, and how often these stories (retellings, understandings) are always connected to one’s financial status / class standing (and how a “ruling class” always maintains power by getting to determine who has access based on birthplace, cultural identity, skin color, other identities etc etc).

For anyone else listening to the audiobook in English -- the narrator is Sarah Skaer. From a quick search, she is "half Japanese" and "raised in Japan" according to her bio. This is definitely apparent as I wince every time she attempts to pronounce Taiwanese (Hokkien) words. Given the numerous articles and interviews that both the author Yáng Shuāng-zǐ and translator Lin King have given regarding their intentionality with picking/choosing the most fitting words in all respective languages, I wonder if they had a say in choosing who the English narrator would be, or if that was left up to the publisher. And if it was intentional to choose a narrator that could only speak Japanese + English, I wonder what the thought process behind that choice was. (Though, I am curious as to the number of individuals who exist that are fluent in all languages: Mandarin Chinese, Taiwanese Hokkien, Japanese and English, let alone the number of those fluent in all aforementioned languages who are also voice actors.)

Additionally, the audiobook does not include the numerous amount of footnotes that are present in the physical book. As noted in this article "'Taiwan Travelogue' is a Mandarin novel that disguises itself as a Japanese text. Yáng originally published the book under the fictional name Aoyama Chizuko, listing herself as the translator of a "rediscovered" Japanese travelogue from 1938. The novel comes complete with fake footnotes, a fictional translator's note by Yáng in character, and an afterword by the Taiwanese interpreter who is also the novel's central love interest. King had to translate all of this into English while preserving every layer of the deception. Her own real footnotes now sit alongside Yáng's fictional ones, creating what she has described as becoming "in a small way, a character throughout the book." The result is a text where the reader must constantly ask who is speaking, who is translating, and whose version of the truth they are holding." I know there is a TON of other similar interviews and articles where similar things are repeated and discussed, and I'm sure I'll be delving more into them as I continue reading (and then discussing especially with other Taiwanese people).

I think I will be getting the most out of this book by both listening and reading at the same time (especially since I am not fluent at all in Japanese, but I can read and understand the romanization of Taiwanese Hokkien + Chinese Mandarin). I feel like those especially not familiar with ANY of the languages would also probably most benefit from listening and reading at the same time as to 1) not get confused on what parts are "fiction" and 2) what parts are a nod to the actual historical period and/or cultural relevance of some dishes and places.

Had I not read the synopsis knowing this was going to be about a polyam relationship with three people, I would’ve thought Bebe’s dinner party was her + her friend group propositioning Mel for a huge queer orgy.