Negotiating Culture Space and Identity: The Translation and Analysis of Tongzhi and Ku-er Fiction

Negotiating Culture Space and Identity: The Translation and Analysis of Tongzhi and Ku-er Fiction

by
Ming Chih Wu

Submitted for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy
Centre for Translation Studies

School of English and Languages

Faculty of Arts and Human Sciences

Supervisors: Dimitris Asimakoulas

©Ming Chih Wu 2014

Declaration

This thesis and the work to which it refers are the results of my own efforts. Any ideas, data, images or text resulting from the work of others (whether published or unpublished) are fully identified as such within the work and attributed to their originator in the text, bibliography or in footnotes. This thesis has not been submitted in whole or in part for any other academic degree or professional qualification. I agree that the University has the right to submit my work to the plagiarism detection service TurnitinUK for originality checks. Whether or not drafts have been so-assessed, the University reserves the right to require an electronic version of the final document (as submitted) for assessment as above.

Signature: Michelle Ming-Chih Wu

Date: 25/02/2015

The Use of Chinese Characters:
Throughout the present study, there are Chinese characters cited. They are quoted in the original Chinese characters followed by an English back translation in brackets. However, the following are the exceptions to the rule:

1. 
   The names of the characters that appear in the novels and the short stories, and the names of Chinese authors and critics will be cited by their Roman letters phonetic only.
   
2. 
   Quotes from Chinese sources (excluding quotes used for textual analysis in the Pilot Study in Chapter 7) are translated into English by me and quoted in English only.
   
3. 
   The terms tongzhi and ku-er are the Roman letters phonetic for 同志 [comrade] and 酷兒 [cool child]. For the sake of consistency, they are largely cited in the study in English.
   

The back translations included in this thesis are my own translation. They are translated according to my comprehension of the source text, and sticking as close to the syntax and meaning of the source text as possible, even if the results may not always comes across as cohesive. This is an attempt to convey the language of the source text, and help the non Chinese reading readers to recognise the difference between the language of the original and translated text.

In addition, there is also the use of abbreviations ST and TT, stands for Source and Target Text respectively.
Abstract
The subject of this thesis is the translation of fiction relating to two movements that emerged in Taiwan towards the end of the last century. Tongzhi and ku-er arose during a period of liberalisation that permitted expression to the to the previously inexpressible, in this case, issues surrounding unconventional sexual identity.

The growth of these movements was inspired by an increasing awareness among the sexually marginalised in Taiwan, of the developments that had occurred in the West regarding sexual identity. The newly tolerant political climate enabled a demand for previously unobtainable cultural material to be supplied, leading to a demand for translators of this material.

This thesis concerns itself with the role of translation in the formation and evolution of tongzhi and ku-er movements through fiction. In the history of literature dealing with same sex desire, the rise of tongzhi and ku-er literature reflects a variety of social, political and literary trends, the international and politically rebellious elements that characterized tongzhi and ku-er identities. Translation, by turn is an important component that brings in foreign influence to tongzhi and ku-er literature, whereby the literature itself translates aspects from Western sources in a way that is characterized as ‘translocal’.
Despite the close ties of tongzhi and ku-er literature with global and local political movements and translation, very little has been written on the subject of tongzhi and ku-er translation. The two translated texts selected for analysis, Angelwings: Contemporary Queer Fiction from Taiwan and Notes of a Desolate Man engage with the aforementioned global and local frameworks. Through analysing the translated text, interweaving strands in this thesis are connected.
Table of Contents
The Use Abbreviations

Abstract

Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………………… 8

Chapter 1: Identity, Discourse and Translation 14

Chapter 2: Translation and the Building of Globalised Networks 17

Chpater 3: The Making of Homosexual Identities: ‘Gay’, ‘Lesbian’ and ‘Queer’ 24

3.1 The Formation of ‘Tongzhi’ and ‘Ku-er’ culture in Taiwan 28

3.2 Tongzhi and Ku-er Literature 34

3.3 Conclusion 39

Chapter 4: Minority Identity and Community………………………………………….40

4.1 Migrant Identity and Translation………………………………………… 41

4.2 Queer Diaspora and Imagined Communities…………………………45

4.3 From Textual Diaspora to Real Life Diaspora………………………..50

4.4 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………57

Chapter 5: Approaches: Frames, Framing and Translation 58

5.1 Frames as an ‘Organization of Experience’ 59

5.2 Literary and Sociological Approaches to Frames and Framing 65

5.3 Sociological Approaches to Frames and Framing 73

5.4 Translational Approaches to Frames and Framing 77

5.5 Conclusion………………………………………………………………………80

Chapter 6: Methodology…………………………………………………………………………….82

6.1 Approach………………………………………………………………………………..83

6.2 Textual Selection…………………………………………………………………….84

6.3 Paratextual Materials…………………………………………………………….87

6.4 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………89

Chapter 7: Angelwings: Contemporary Queer Fiction from Taiwan 90

7.1 The ‘Binding’ of Angelwings Queer Fiction from Taiwan 95

7.2 Bodhisattava Incarnate: Textual Translation 97

7.3 Buddhist Illusions 99

7.4 A Tongzhi Perspective………………………………………………………105

7.5 Conclusion………………………………………………………………………..111

7.6 Platonic Hair and Searching for The Lost Wings of an Angel: Female Tongzhi Perspective in Fran Martin’s Translated Fiction…112

7.7 Platonic Hair: Gender Identity………………………………………………114

7.8 Searching for the Lost Wings of an Angel……………………………..124

Chapter 8: Textual Analysis: Notes of a Desolate Man 136

8.1 Narrative Style 139

8.2 Queer, Gay, Tongzhi Identity 145

8.3 Eroticism and Location………………………………………………………151

8.4 Nation and Diaspra…………………………………………………………….162

8.5 Conclusion………………………………………………………………………….163

Conclusion 164

9.References……………………………………………………………………………………………166

10. Appendix ……………………………………………………………………………………………174


Introduction
In recent years, there has been a revaluation on how identity is created, with translation cited as part of the process to identity formation (see House, Ruano & Baumgarten 2005, Cronin 2006). Since Bassnett and Lefevere (1990) famously coined ‘the cultural turn’ in Translation Studies and Bassnett (1998) subsequently proposed the ‘translation turn’ in Cultural Studies, translation is increasingly considered to have an importance beyond the transfer of information between cultures. Theo Herman (1996: online) describes translation as not only an ‘intellectual category” but also a “socially active force”, indicating the formative effects of translation.
Herman’s concept of translation is exemplified in the construction of Taiwanese tongzhi and ku-er movements in the early 90s. The terms 同志 [comrade] and 酷兒 [cool child] (referred to in this paper with their English phonetic pronunciation ‘tongzhi’ and ‘ku-er’, respectively) represent contemporary, politicized, non gendered Taiwanese (homo)sexual identities. Described as the product of ‘cultural translation’ (Martin 2003, Liou 2005), tongzhi and ku-er identities represent not only unprecedented formations of public homosexual identities, but an intersection between global and local movements. The influence of tongzhi and ku-er culture on East Asian homosexual groups has been addressed by Asian studies scholars Jackson (2001) and Chao (2008), who point out that the term tongzhi has also been adopted by communities in Hong Kong, China, Japan, Thailand and Malaysia. The present study however is restricted to Taiwan.
The extent to which minority groups relate to one another is evident not only in the aforementioned Asian communities, but also gay, lesbian and queer (GLQ) movements pioneered by Europe and America. GLQ activism provides the blueprint for Taiwanese tongzhi and ku-er movements, incorporating Western GLQ practices and literatures ‘translated’ into Taiwan. This lead to the production of tongzhi and ku-er identities, described by the scholar Fran Martin (2003) as ‘hybrid’ identities, utilizing global and local influences. The nature of tongzhi and ku-er culture is best summarised by Chao, who considers tongzhi and ku-er to represent one of Taiwan’s most globalised, ‘translocal’ cultural trends, reflecting both native Taiwanese culture and the ‘invention of new traditions’ (2008: 382).
One means by which tongzhi and ku-er movements ‘invent’ new traditions is through the production of fiction. Similar to tongzhi and ku-er identity, tongzhi and ku-er fiction represents a ‘hybrid’ form of Chinese literature that incorporates influences both foreign and domestic. The frequently controversial and challenging nature of this fiction means that it is often presented as an alternative, countercultural literary force to the traditional Chinese literary canon.

While much has been written on the phenomenon of Taiwanese tongzhi and ku-er identity/literature¹, little has been attempted from the viewpoint of translation. This can be attributed to the scarcity of translated tongzhi and ku-er fiction, as well as the ‘minor’ role that translated text traditionally plays in the literary world (Venuti, 1995). However, as will be argued here, translation has been an essential component in facilitating the formation of tongzhi and ku-er movements. Li Bo, in his own study on the translation of Chinese tongzhi literature and English gay literature, argues that “writing can be interpreted as a process of identity construction” (2006: 69). By extension, translation can be viewed as a process of identity reconstruction. Interestingly, If tongzhi and ku-er is a ‘reconstruction’ of the Western identities of ‘gay’, ‘lesbian’ and ‘queer’, then the translation of tongzhi and ku-er fiction can be seen as a further appropriation of an already translated identity, which in turn confronts the origins of its predecessors.

As the culturally hybrid nature of tongzhi and ku-er identities/literature suggests, evaluation of tongzhi and ku-er translated literature needs to transcend debates of foreignisastion and domestication, because it can be argued that the source text is itself partially ‘foreignized’. The focus of the present study, is to develop an academic approach that addresses the cultural particularities (or indeed ‘queerness’) of tongzhi and ku-er fiction. Apart from the issue of identity ‘reconstruction’ in fictions dealing with the portrayal of sexual identities (as mentioned by Li Bo), tongzhi and ku-er fiction also engages and represents political activism on both sides of the Pacific. The translators approaches to political aspects of tongzhi and ku-er fiction are of particular interest.
Uniting multidisciplinary perspectives, the first chapter brings together the three recurring themes in this paper: identity, discourse and translation. These three strands underlie this analysis of tongzhi and ku-er culture. This leads to the second chapter, introducing the factors, network and globalisation. Contemporary translation research from Pym (1998), Cronin (2006) and Nouss (2007) advocates a fluid definition of translation. The effects of globalisation, the blurring of ‘borders’ between cultures has a parallel in translation. The three scholars understand translation to be a literal and metaphoric process, promoting as well as reflecting the changes in the globalised world. Interestingly, Nouss proposes the idea of ‘metis’ in translation, arguing that translated text is by nature ‘metis’ rather than hybrid: simultaneously possessing multiple cultural ‘roots’. Tongzhi and ku-er identities can also be seen as ‘metis’ because they do not come from a single cultural tradition.

The third chapter provides an overview of tongzhi and ku-er history, with specific reference to the preceding Western LGQ movement. As previously noted, Western (specifically American) constructions of ‘gay’, ‘lesbian’ and ‘queer’ were the blueprints for Taiwanese tongzhi and ku-er movements. GLQ activism in American and Europe will be discussed in relation to the formation of tongzhi and ku-er, which adopted similar political strategies to their Western counterparts. However, the particular pressures on homosexuals in Taiwan lead to evolution of strategies adapted to the prevailing social climate. As chapter 3.3 will demonstrate, many of the writers that produce tongzhi and ku-er fiction use the medium of literature to parody and challenge the homophobia in Taiwanese society.

The fourth chapter looks at minority identity and community, in which the ‘minoritized’ status of tongzhi and ku-er, as discussed in the previous section, is echoed in discussions on migrant identity and diaspora. The formation of queer diasporas and imagined communities is discussed, seeing how they manifest in real life and textual diaspora. This is also the first chapter in which passages of tongzhi and ku-er literature are introduced. As example of textual diaspora, they illustrate the connection between the specificity of tongzhi and ku-er text and the broader implications of social change discussed in this thesis.
This lead up to the fifth chapter which focuses on the literary and sociological concepts of ‘frames’ and ‘framing’. The notion of frame in literature includes the physical: every work of fiction that is published has a tangible frame (such as the covers, layout, spine), designed to enclose the texts. Beyond physical translation itself is a process of (re)framing, transforming the original textual ‘frame’ from one to another. However, as Tymoczko (2000) notes, translated text is by nature partial, potentially influenced by the translator’s ideological disposition. In this respect, translation as reframing also has political dimensions.
The sixth chapter bridges the gap between the literature that are discussed so far before moving on to the specific textual analysis. It provides the rationale on both the approach towards textual analysis and the process of textual selection. The purpose of this chapter is to highlight the methods in looking at the texts, paving the grounding for the textual analysis.
The seventh chapter on the analysis of Angelwings, Contemporary Queer Fiction From Taiwan. This chapter can be divided into two parts, the first is on the male tongzhi section, Chu Tien Wen’s 肉身菩薩 (1989) [Buddha of the Body], translated by Fran Martin as Bodhisattva Incarnate. The second section is on the female tongzhi translated texts, including Qui Maojin’s 柏拉圖之髮 [Platonic Hair] (1990), translated by Martin as Platonic Hair, and Chen Xue’s 尋找天使遺失的翅膀 [Searching for Angel’s Lost Wings]. Not only is the translated text discussed in this chapter, paratextual information also plays a prominent role. How Martin construed the translated text within a certain ‘framework’ is the focal point of this chapter.
The eighth chapter is the analysis of Chu Tien Wen’s 荒人手記 [Desolate Man’s Journal], translated by Howard Goldblatt and Sylvia Li-Chun Lin as Notes of a Desolate Man. This chapter expands on the theme of minority and minority identity within the text .
Through analysing the physical and textual frame of the translated texts, as well as the techniques of (re)framing by the translator, this thesis ultimately try to answer the question of what does the translation of tongzhi and ku-er fiction open up? As the topic is unprecedented, this paper offers room for expansion. Research questions here -
Chapter 1: Identity, Discourse and Translation
Throughout the coming discussion on the translation of tongzhi and ku-er literature, the three topics that recur are identity, discourse and translation. Identity can be seen to be shaped by discourse, which is circulated and transformed by translation. While definitions of identity, discourse and translation open up unlimited areas for discussion, the intricate relationship between the three aspects provides a useful starting point in thinking about the formation of modern cultural networks. In the current, globalised world especially, identity and discourses do not evolve in isolation, and translation plays a crucial role in this evolution. This chapter reviews the literature on identity, discourse and translation and their relation to one another, in anticipation of the discussion on the tongzhi and ku-er movements in Taiwan.
Contemporary philosophies on the nature of identity tend to perceive identity as a cultural, rather than a natural construct. Stuart Hall (1990), in his study on identity and diaspora, outlines the historical changes in the academic perception of identity. Hall himself views identity to be in a constant state of flux, emphasis the importance of the ‘route’ of identity above the ‘root’. He summarises this view as follows:
[…] cultural identity is not a fixed essence at all, lying unchanged outside history and culture […] It is not a fixed origin to which we can make some final and absolute Return […] Cultural identities are the points of identification, the unstable points of identification or suture, which are made, within the discourse of history and culture. Not an essence but a positioning. (Hall 1990: 226, original emphasis)

The ‘positionality’ of identity to which Hall refers suggests that identity is not absolute, but instead a reflection of social, political and ideological positions. In a later review of Hall’s studies, Grossberg (1996) also points out that debates on identity no longer relate to questions of ‘adequacy’ or ‘distortion’, “but on the politics of representation itself” (1996: 90). Disciplines such as feminism and postcolonialism for example, frequently engage with the politics of representation. Both Butler (1990) and Bhabha (1994) have urged a rethinking of identity from the points of view of gender and nationality respectively. Butler, in her influential study Gender Trouble (1990) proposes that gender identity is performative rather than natural, and the traditional notions of femininity and masculinity are established as a way to impose a power hierarchy rather than in deference to a fact of nature. Bhabha in The Location of Culture (1994) deconstructs the belief in the ‘purity’ of culture, instead proposing that culture is always positioned in relation to other cultural networks, resulting in cultural and identity ‘hybridization’. Although Butler and Bhabha come from different backgrounds, they challenge the static, mainstream patriarchal/ Eurocentric perceptions of identity in similar ways, offering an alternative framework that includes previously marginalised or suppressed groups. Their studies link the discourse of identity to the discourse of power, in which identities are related to wider political movements and ideologies as well as the products of self definition.

Seen from this perspective, identity has the power to include as well as to exclude. Hall, in a later overview of contemporary cultural identity, argues that identity is: “constructed within, not outside discourse”, and is produced by “specific historical and institutional sites within specific discursive formations and practices, by specific enunciative strategies” (1996: 4). The historical and cultural specificity that Hall reemphasises the fluid nature of identity, linking the (trans)formation of identity with the production of discourse. Translation plays a part in the discourse that contributes to the creation of new concepts and identities. For Theo Hermans, translation has the potential to act as a “cultural force”, opening up new opportunities for identification. As he states:
Translation offers a window on cultural self-definition, in that it involves not only the selection and importation of cultural goods from the outside world, but at the same time […] the transformation into terms which the recipient culture recognizes, to some extent at least, as its own. (Herman 1996)
The paradox between the foreign and the familiar (or in Hermans’ words,the ‘other’ and ‘self’) in the translated product, marks translation as a unique process of ‘self definition’. House, Ruamo and Baumgarten also cite Hermans’ quote in relation to identity formation, affirming the influence of translation in expanding horizons in the understanding of cultural identities (2005: 4). However, as the boundary for identification increases, the distinction between cultural identities becomes increasingly blurred. In the increasingly globalised world, phrases such as ‘global village’, ‘cosmopolitanism’ and ‘immigration’ are now part of a worldwide discussion. The meaning of ‘translation’ in this sense is as much a process of communication as it is a metaphor for the multiple nature of identity and discourse. The next chapter will elaborate on this idea further, looking at how translation may inspire literal as well as metaphorical change.
Chapter 2: Translation and the Building of Globalised Networks
In recent times, Translation Studies has considered the increasing effects of globalisation on identity (Sidiropoulou 2005, Cronin 2006). As early as 1990, Giddens noted the “inherently globalising” nature of modernity (1990: 63). According to Giddens, globalisation ‘stretches’ the way local networks function, increasing the distance between their connections with global events: “Globalisation can […] be defined as the intensification of world wide social relations which link distant localities in such a way that local happenings are shaped by events” (Giddens 1990: 64). For Giddens, the increase connection between cultures also leads to an ‘intensification’ of social relations, which can lead to transformation. Local cultures can be affected in ways both diverse and unforeseean.
In the context of translation practices, Cronin (2006) looks at the effects of globalisation and aligns sociological phenomena such as cosmopolitanism, migration and global hybridity with the evolving functions of translation. Although Cronin never explicitly defines ‘identity’, his study indicates that national and cultural identities are complicated by the effects of globalisation. As he comments in the introduction to his book:
These developments in business, the economy and society obviously make the working of any kind of identity – which implies a sense of continuity over time – problematic […] the difficulty may not so much in deciding whether you are Irish or Chinese […] but in retaining the possibility of working out any kind of identity at all. (Cronin 2006: 3)

The increasing difficulties in identity formation that Cronin mentions can partly be attributed to the effects of translation. Elaborating on the idea of translation as both a literal and metaphorical process, the term is used to describe conventional textual translation and interpreting, but also include cultural changes brought about by the aforementioned phenomena of cosmopolitanism, migration and so on. Cronin (2006) compares the life of the migrant person to an act of translation. Considering the increase in the number of migrants in Europe, Asia and North America in the last two decades, Cronin comments:

The condition of the migrant is the condition of the translated being. He or she moves from a source language and culture to a target language and culture so that translation takes place both in the physical sense of movement or displacement and in the symbolic sense of the shift from one way of speaking, writing and interpreting the world to another. (Cronin 2006: 45, original emphasis)
In other words, the migrant persons are expected to ‘translate’ themselves from their home culture into their designated culture. Here, the word translation functions symbolically and practically, representing as well as contributing to the changes in contemporary culture.
Changes and assimilation brought about by translation may lead to concern over the erosion or dilution of personal and collective identity. For example, the increase visibility of nationalist movement reflects anxiety about migration. Nevertheless, Cronin argues that the process of translation can be the solution to these anxieties, pointing to “forms of coexistence that are progressive and enabling” (Cronin 2006: 3). According to Cronin, the effects of globalisation are not always negative. An increasingly multilingual world, an effect of globalisation, is cited by Cronin as potentially ‘enabling’, because it can lead to the development and enrichment of national literatures. In the ‘literary polysystem’ proposed by Even Zohar (2000) translated literature can take a central position where specific genres of literature are under-represented, or when the literary polysystem itself is undergoing a process of transformation. This process can enrich the ‘tradition’ of the literary polysystem, while paradoxically “translation, by which new ideas, items, characteristics can be introduced into a literature, becomes a mean to preserve traditional taste” (Even Zohar 2000: 195). In other words, through integration with the literary polysystem, the translated text can take on the characteristics of target text culture, subsequently becoming part of the original literary canon. In this way, translation can play an important role in innovation as well as in the preservation of national literature and cultures.
The concept of a literary polysystem implies the formation of network, and can be seen as another term to describe literary networks. Cronin (2006) in his study notes the importance of networks. He argues that translation leads to the building of ‘transcultural networks’:
[T]ranslation also functions as a way of establishing transcultural networks which are expansive in their ambition and reach […] Translation can contribute to movements of linguistic or cultural independence but only on the condition that the state independence is one of interdependence. As translation by definition involves a form of dependency on the source language and culture, the translational relationship is an interdependent one but is a form of dependency which is potentially enabling rather than confining or disabling. (Cronin 2006: 36, my emphasis)
Transcultural networks, through translation, have lead to the formation of minority movements worldwide. Both Harvey (2003) and Simon (1996), in their respective studies on gay and feminist translation, highlight the significance of translation in bringing previously marginalised identities and sexualities to a higher, political visibility. The growth of a recognised tongzhi and ku-er movement in Taiwan from obscurity to popularity is a case in point: in which marginalised groups in Taiwan have been able to identify with Western gay, lesbian and queer groups through cultural and actual translation (the extent of the influence will be discussed further in chapter 4). The relationship between local and global political groups in ‘transcultural networks’ can therefore be seen as interdependent, especially when they share a common political aim and can work together symbiotically.
The ‘interdependent’ aspect of translation that Cronin cites proposes a new way of looking at translated text. Traditional analysis tends to focus on the cultural and linguistic differences between the source text and the target text culture. For example, the debate on domestication and foreignization within translation (Venuti 1995), suggested that the text tends to conform more to one cultural tradition than another. For Cronin, the translation (and the translator) are as dependent on the source text culture as on the target culture. It is this relationship of interdependency that makes translation enabling rather than disabling (2006: 36), as translation is not a singular process of information transfer, but a facilitator of the aforementioned ‘transcultural’ network.
Cronin’s approach corresponds with Pym’s (2003) call for a ‘borderless’ perspective towards translation study. Indeed, Pym seeks an alternative definition of translation not limited to ‘the crossing of cultural borders’. According to Pym, ‘borders’ are conventionally seen as metaphorical ‘lines’, marking the cultural territory between: “what belongs on one side and what belongs on the other” (2003: 452). Pym argues that borders should instead be seen instead as sets intersecting points:
Let us imagine […] the formal border actually presented by a translation is not a line but a point or a vague locus. This could be seen as a place centred by a moving text intersecting with a pre – existing border. We could see the border as vertical, the movement as horizontal. Where two lines cross, there lies a translation. (Pym 2003: 453)

Pym’s vision is based on fluid intersections between cultures. In a similar proposal to that of Cronin (2006), Pym suggests that translation includes: “transcultural networks, connecting several cultures, forming zones of intensity, peripheries, major cross over areas […] all in a geometry that is neither culturally specific nor universalistic” (2003: 455) Pym’s assessment of translation as being neither ‘culturally specific nor universalistic’ supports his earlier assertion of the ‘intercultural’ nature of translation and translators (1998: 177). The actual processes of translation occur in the intercultural space, with translators and interpreters often working alongside other ‘cultural intermediaries’ such as diplomats, academics, and journalist where mobility and connectivity between cultures are essential (1998: 188). Translations are as indebted to the target culture as they are to the source culture, and positioned within the space of cultural interaction, which accords with Cronin’s proposal of translation as an interdependent activity.

Cronin (2006) and Pym’s (2003) studies are cited because they suggest a fluid approach to translation, the translator and the translated text. The ‘borderless’ aspect of their theory is particularly relevant in globalised societies where the ‘borders’ that have defined identities become increasingly blurred. Nouss (2007) takes the idea of identity beyond the definition of ‘borders’ even further, and draws parallels with the process of translation. He argues that translated texts, like identity are constantly being redefined and retranslated :
Retranslation is part of translation. Translation is equivalent on the textual level to identity on the level of ontology, between sameness and differences, never quite the same and never quite different” (2007: 247 Nouss’ emphasis).

Nouss bases his thinking about identity and translation on the concept of “metissage”. He looks beyond the binary supposition between ‘self’ and ‘other’, ‘home’ and ‘foreign’. The term ‘metissage’ was coined from the word ‘metis’, a person of mixed North American Indian and European ancestry². It refers to a form of multi-culturality, within which different cultural heritages coexist. Nouss argues that metissage is neither a tangible entity, nor a ‘combination’ of different entities: “metissage should not be confused with mixture, which implies fusion, or with hybridity, which produces a new unit” (Nouss 2007: 247). Unlike the fusion or the hybrid, ‘metis’ or ‘metissage’ does not give birth to a separate unit, but allows the multiplicity of ‘roots’ and identities to coexist within the same individual. Nouss stresses identities cannot simply be combined or ‘added up’, but can be defined by the word ‘and’. As he states:

The ‘and’-which is a conjunction which characterises metissage-does not enclose within a totalizing structure; rather, it indicates an opening up, a possible interaction between two or more terms. (Nouss 2007: 247)
Metissage indicates “a form, a configuration, an assemblage of different affiliations and identities which is never fixed once and for all” (Nouss 2007: 249). The translated text represents the assemblage of ‘different affiliations and identities” because it maintains the identity of the original culture(s) and the translated text culture. As Nouss notes: “[a] translation is a text, and, as such, it is meaningful as a vector and an index of historicity, where the original and its translation interweave” (2007: 249). The concept of translated text as interweaving strands reinforces the idea of translation as an interdependent activity, built upon interactions and intersections.
While Nouss’ study is interesting, he does not provide any concrete examples of how metissage may manifest in the process of translation. The notion of ‘metissage’, therefore, remains closer to a concept rather than a literary practice. Nevertheless, compared to hybridity, it may be the most appropriate description for the multicultural Taiwanese tongzhi and ku-er culture. The culture of Taiwan itself can be seen as metissage. Taiwan has always been distinguished by its unique colonial history and complex political relationships with China, the United States and Japan, and its mixed groups of immigrants and inhabitants. Lacking the monocultural certainties of its neighbours, Taiwan readily absorbs foreign ideas and adapts them to a point where they become part of Taiwanese culture. As the following chapter on the formation of tongzhi and ku-er culture in Taiwan will illustrate, foreign inspirations are frequently assimilated, borrowed and rewritten. The fragmented nature of Taiwanese tongzhi and ku-er literature is part of the globalised, ‘metis’ translation process.

Chapter 3: The Making of Homosexual Identities: ‘Gay’, ‘Lesbian’ and ‘Queer’

Before the notion of tongzhi and ku-er culture/literature is discussed in depth however, it is worth first considering the significance of their Western counterparts gay, lesbian and queer. As mentioned in the introduction to the paper, these three Western movements are important reference points for Taiwanese tongzhi and ku-er activism, and any discussions on tongzhi and ku-er identities will inevitably engage with the concepts of ‘gay’, ‘lesbian’ and ‘queer’. This chapter will therefore broadly outline the definitions, as well as the relationships between the different categories of homosexual identities from both side of the Pacific, the cultural perceptions of these identities in their respective contexts, and how exactly they influence Taiwanese tongzhi and ku-er culture.
Beginning with the American, specifically USA concepts of ‘gay’ and ‘lesbian’, the two identities were born out of the political protests and academic discourses taking place in the 1960s and 1970s. Compared to the clinical, medical connotations of ‘homosexual’ or ‘homosexuality’, the terms ‘gay’ and ‘lesbian’ are associated with specific socio-political movements. The idea of “identity production as an essential component of collective action” (Porta and Diani, 2006: 92) was never more relevant than in its application to minority (including gay and lesbian) movements in the 60s and 70s, when previously marginalised groups began to make their voices heard. The creation of movements such as Black Power, Feminism and Gay and Lesbian rights provided marginalised individuals with an opportunity for identification. The question of identity became not only a personal, but also a collective notion, having what Porta and Diani describe as: ‘a sense of common purpose and shared commitment to a cause’ (2006: 21).
The Stonewall Riot in New York in 1969 arguably marks the point at which Western homosexual identities took on a political character. Through violent confrontation with the police force, homosexual groups and individuals gained public visibility. This had a catalytic effect on the perception of homosexual identities, the term ‘gay’, for example, emerged from the underground into political, academic and popular usage. The establishment of the Gay Liberation Front in 1969, just a few weeks after Stonewall, set the precedent for gay political activism. Coupled with increasing academic interest in rethinking homosexual identity, the word ‘gay’ became an accepted form of social labelling amongst homosexual communities in the West. Harvey, in his study of American gay literature, succinctly summarises the characteristics of American gay identity:
The praxis that emerges from the assumptions of American gay is both individual and collective: it is structured around the centrality of ‘coming out’ as a homosexual (both to oneself and then to ‘the world’) which, in turn, leads to processes of self-styling and of the elaboration with self-identified others of bonds of cultural, social and political solidarity. (2003: 12, Harvey’s emphasis)

The ‘bonds of cultural, social and political solidarity’ are the crucial factors that distinguish contemporary homosexual identities from previous interpretations, leading to what Harvey considers to be a process of ‘internal identity formation’ and ‘imagined community projection’ (2003: 16, original emphasis).

Equally, the construction of a ‘lesbian’ identity enabled individuals to form, and furthermore identify with a female homosexual community. Selden, Widdowsden and Brooker (1997) cite the lesbian movements as based on the premise of creating an autonomous identity, as a reaction against the predominantly male gay movements of the time. In a similar trajectory to the word ‘gay’, the word ‘lesbian’ emerged from the underground scene to refer to a political identity. Initially the use of the term ‘lesbian’ however, signifies identification with feminism as much as female homosexuality. The activist group Radicalesbians (1970-71) for example, saw lesbianism as a way to fight against the “coercive identification” of being a ‘woman’. According to this activist group, all women could become lesbians as a way to fight against patriarchal oppression. As Radicalesbians state in the opening lines of their manifesto Woman Identified Woman: “What is a lesbian? A lesbian is the rage of all women condensed to the point of explosion.”³ This concept of a universal ‘identification’ reinforced an agenda similar to the early stages of Western Feminism, which also promoted a sense of unity and empowerment and unity between women.
With ‘gay’ and ‘lesbian’ established as popular terms by the homosexual communities as well as in mainstream media, the 1980s saw the emergence of a new strand of homosexual discourse categorised as ‘queer’. If gay groups were born out of the Stonewall riots and feminists activism; the word ‘queer’ originated from homosexual rights protests groups such as Act Up and Outrage in the mid 80s (see Warner 1993; Sullivan 2003). The term ‘queer’ suggests something/someone that is ‘other’ and ‘peculiar’, and was originally used as an insult. Queer activists however, reclaimed the term as their own, taking pride in the difference and exclusion that the word ‘queer’ signifies. Queer theorists such as Michael Warner for example, perceive queer identity to be defined “against the normal rather than the heterosexual” (1993: xxvi). Defiance the constraints of ‘normal’ society and a knowing sense of irony and playfulness characterise the tactics of queer movement. The American protest group Queer Nation (1990-1992) is a case in point: activists distributed deliberately provocative manifestos entitled I Hate Straights! and conducted same sex kissing groups in shopping malls (Stryker 2004). Through these provocative gestures, the activists demonstrate a deliberate awareness of their ‘queer’ position in society.
Unlike ‘gay’ and ‘lesbian’, queer identity is not specific to a gender or (homo)sexuality. It incorporates unconventional sexual identities such as bisexuality and transgenderism which were overlooked by gay and lesbian activism. Sullivan summarises the indefinable nature of queer identity and theory: “In each case, Queer (Theory) is constructed as a sort of vague and indefinable set of practices and (political) positions that has the potential to challenge normative knowledge and identities” (2003: 50). Seen from this perspective, queer identity offers a more open structure for identification compared to gay or lesbian identities. As the following section will demonstrate, the multiplicity and mutability of queer identity has been adopted by the new wave of Taiwanese homosexual identity movements.

‘Gay’, ‘lesbian’ and ‘queer’ identities, are each the product of divergent social movements that came to public attention in the 20th century. While it is debatable whether or not these identities are the dominant models for contemporary homosexual identities worldwide, it cannot be denied that they are influential reference points for the burgeoning activism concerning the rights of homosexual individuals.