The Seminar "La littérature taiwanaise: état des recherches et réception à l'étranger (Taiwanese Literature: State of Research and Reception Abroad)" took place at Bordeaux Montaigne University on Sept. 29 and 30 and at the National Institute for Oriental Languages and Civilizations (INALCO) on Oct. 1. Discussions on research in Taiwan literature and its reception overseas are organized by professors Angel Pino and Isabelle Rabut, who have been promoting the translation and publication of Taiwanese literature, as well as the novelist and associate professor at Bordeaux Montaigne University Chou Tan-ying (周丹穎), along with the support of Taiwan Cultural Center in Paris.
Angel Pino and Isabelle Rabut, teaching at Bordeaux Montaigne University and INALCO, respectively, both won the 2012 Taiwan-France Cultural Award. Dedicated to giving courses on Taiwan research and also introducing Taiwan literature to French readers, Angel Pino and Isabelle Rabut edited "Anthologie Historique de la prose romanesque taïwanaise modern (A Historical Anthology of Modern Taiwanese Romantic Prose)." The four-volume anthology collects iconic Taiwanese literature written between the Japanese colonial era and the end of the 20th century. It is the first French collection to span the whole development of modern Taiwanese literature.
The three-day symposium invited academics including David Der-wei Wang (王德威), who was the winner of the National Award of Arts and was elected as academician of Academia Sinica in 2004, professor Chang Sung-sheng (張誦聖) of the Department of Asian Studies and the Program in Comparative Literature of the University of Texas at Austin, professor Mei Chia-ling (梅家玲) of the Department of Chinese Literature of National Taiwan University, German scholar Thilo Diefenbach, Italian scholar Federica Passi, and many others.
Ocean literature writer Syaman Rapongan attended the seminar in person while authors Wu Sheng (吳晟) and Yang Ze (楊澤) participated in the event online to talk about the recent publication of their works in the French version.