Taiwan Travelogue

昭和臺灣縱貫鐵道美食之旅
楊双子《臺灣漫遊錄》華麗面世
2020臺灣文學金典獎入圍作品
 
「我們一起吃遍臺島吧！」――青山千鶴子（日本九州小說家）
「這個世間，再也沒有比自以為是的善意更難拒絕的燙手山芋了。」――美島愛三（臺灣總督府臺中市役所職員）
「我只說一次，聽好了。我不幫日本人做菜。」――阿盆師（漳州出身傳奇女總鋪師）
「帝國與支那的戰爭演變到現在──哎呀，未來的臺島，或許不需要翻譯家吧。」――王千鶴（公學校國語科教師）

　　從瓜子、米篩目、麻薏湯，到生魚片、壽喜燒，再到鹹蛋糕、蜜豆冰，小說宛如一場筵席，將青山千鶴子來臺一年的春夏秋冬，寫進這場筵席裡，有臺式小點，有日式大菜，更有多元血統的料理，比如入境便隨之風味流轉的咖哩。在次第端上的菜色中，這位小說總舖師悄悄加入了幾味，那是人與人之間因背負著不同的生命文化而舌尖異化般的，難以描摹的滋味。

　　昭和十三年，青山千鶴子的半自傳小說《青春記》改編為電影在臺上映，在婦人團體日新會推廣之下反應熱烈，受邀來臺巡迴演講。青山千鶴子出身富紳家族，因母親早逝送往長崎分家養育，旅居臺中時，日新會推薦一位臺灣大家族庶出的女子王千鶴擔任通譯。在全然不同文化教養下長大的兩人，因而有機會一起遊歷縱貫鐵道沿線城市。她們曾經留宿臺北鐵道飯店、臺南鐵道飯店，甚或延伸搭乘糖鐵、地方支線，飽覽各城鎮風光。每至一處，街道攤販、駄菓子舖、𥴊仔店、喫茶店，或者洋食店、餐廳、旅館，走到哪裡吃到哪裡。這一趟縱貫鐵道美食之旅，實屬難得，是兩位女子相遇於婚姻之前，以自由凝佇的時光片刻。在味蕾滿足之餘，彼此交流了文化與思想，青山千鶴子才知道，曾任公學校教師的王千鶴，有著當翻譯家的願望。或許是身為女子的共鳴，青山千鶴子理解女性要擁有獨立的職涯極為不易，何況王千鶴並沒有雄厚的背景與家人的支持，便心生助其一臂之力的念頭。

　　然而，戰爭的嚴峻日漸逼來……兩人是否能如願走向自己希冀的命運？

　　小說家楊双子透過扎實的歷史研究、細密的情節與立體的人物描寫，以飲食為喻，使我們得以窺見日本帝國對待殖民地臺灣、日本內地人與臺灣本島人的種種矛盾，乃至於當年男性之於女性命運的差異，女性做為一個獨立的個體，意欲擁有獨立的職業身分與思考，卻將面臨的種種困難與考驗。

本書中文版由春山出版

FINALIST FOR THE 2024 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FOR TRANSLATED LITERATURE

A bittersweet story of love between two women, nested in an artful exploration of language, history, and power

May 1938. The young novelist Aoyama Chizuko has sailed from her home in Nagasaki, Japan, and arrived in Taiwan. She’s been invited there by the Japanese government ruling the island, though she has no interest in their official banquets or imperialist agenda. Instead, Chizuko longs to experience real island life and to taste as much of its authentic cuisine as her famously monstrous appetite can bear.

Soon a Taiwanese woman--who is younger even than she is, and who shares the characters of her name--is hired as her interpreter and makes her dreams come true. The charming, erudite, meticulous Chizuru arranges Chizuko’s travels all over the Land of the South and also proves to be an exceptional cook. Over scenic train rides and braised pork rice, lively banter and winter melon tea, Chizuko grows infatuated with her companion and intent on drawing her closer. But something causes Chizuru to keep her distance. It’s only after a heartbreaking separation that Chizuko begins to grasp what the ＂something＂ is.

Disguised as a translation of a rediscovered text by a Japanese writer, this novel was a sensation on its first publication in Mandarin Chinese in 2020 and won Taiwan’s highest literary honor, the Golden Tripod Award. Taiwan Travelogue unburies lost colonial histories and deftly reveals how power dynamics inflect our most intimate relationships.