During the Japanese colonial period in Taiwan, a group of poets formed the "Windmill Poetry Society" and wrote in Japanese to echo the surrealism from France. The Windmill Poetry Society briefly appeared in the history of Taiwanese literature. Now, nearly a hundred years later, these works have been translated into French and published, drawing a unique literary trajectory.
With the promotion of the Taiwan Cultural Center (Bawen Center) of the Ministry of Culture in France, the French Circé publishing house recently launched the Windmill Poetry Society's anthology "Les Joues en feu" (The Burning Cheeks), which presents the Taiwanese avant-garde poet's poems written a century ago in Japanese, Chinese, and French.
Sinologist and editor Isabelle Rabut and translator Makiko Andro-Ueda attended a book launch symposium at the Bibliothèque Benoîte Groult in the 14th arrondissement of Paris earlier this month to explain the significance of the Windmill Poetry Society and the challenges in the translation process.
He Biyu was vaguely aware that there was a surrealist poetry school in Taiwan, but the opportunity that prompted her to learn more about the Windmill Poetry Society was director Huang Alex's documentary "Japanese Strollers" and the book about the Windmill Poetry Society compiled by poets Chen Yunyuan and Huang Alex. "Sunday Japanese Stroller" was published in 2016, drawing renewed attention to this short but extremely significant history of Taiwanese literature. In an interview with a reporter from Central News Agency, He Biyu said: "French readers probably don't know that there were surrealist poets in Taiwan so long ago... Therefore, this is a phenomenon that is particularly noteworthy and transcends national boundaries, and it is worth introducing to the public."
Windmill Poetry Society is written in Japanese. Although there are Chinese and English translations, He Biyu believes that it is very important to translate from the language in which the text was originally written. The translation by Circé Publishing House is directly translated from the Japanese version into French. The poets of the Windmill Poetry Society received the influence of French ideological trends through Japan and wrote in Japanese. Now they have been translated into French and published in France, forming a unique literary communication path. He Biyu said that the Windmill Poetry Society witnessed the importance of exchanges of ideas between East and West in that era, in which Japan played a central role.
Makiko Andro-Ueda said that before Surrealism, there was Parnasse and Symbolism. French poetry passed down from generation to generation evoked the dreams and creativity of poets at that time, which not only affected Taiwan, but also Japan. They embraced grand dreams and tried to digest all poetry within their reach. This rich energy impressed her deeply.
The Windmill Poetry Society was founded in Tainan in 1933. Its members include Yang Chichang, Zhang Liangdian, Li Zhangrui, Lin Xiuer, etc. They were exposed to world literature through Japan and the Japanese language, and were committed to exploring new literary styles in Taiwan. However, the "Windmill Poetry Journal" that gathered everyone's creations was discontinued after only four issues. Lin Xiuer suffered from tuberculosis and died in 1944 at the age of 31. During the White Terror in 1952, Li Zhangrui was arrested for organizing a book club-related case and was later executed at the age of 41.
According to the National Human Rights Memory Bank, Yang Chi-chang served as a reporter for the Tainan branch of the "Taiwan New Life News" during the February 28 Incident in 1947. He was charged with organizing civil strife and sentenced to 2 years in prison, with an execution period of about 6 months. He died in 1994 at the age of 86. Zhang Liangdian was also arrested in 1947 and charged with civil strife and detained for 9 months. He later practiced medicine and died in 2014 at the age of 100.
