Bert Scruggs

Picture of Bert Scruggs
Associate Professor, East Asian Studies
School of Humanities
Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania
Email: bms@uci.edu
University of California, Irvine
Department of East Asian Studies
Irvine, CA 92697
Research Interests
Taiwanese literature; postcolonialism; translation; regionalism
Research Abstract
I seek to understand and explain 20th and 21st century Taiwan and Taiwanese literature by questioning the who, what, when, and where of Taiwan, Jinmen, Mazu, Penghu, Orchid, Green, and other islands and think beyond the tropes of Japanese colony, the Republic of China, “Cultural China,” or “renegade/breakaway province.” Consequently, I am undertaking the projects of 1, adapting indigenous studies as well as rhizomatic and critical regionalisms to the study of Taiwanese literature while at the same time 2, translating both well known and relatively obscure Taiwanese authors’ work into English. In both my first book and current research the principle underlying my research is that Taiwanese literature of the 20th and 21st centuries should be examined as neither a branch of Japanese or Chinese literature nor exclusively as Japanophone or Sinophone literature, but that it is better understood as a trans- or multilingual literature, which sometimes engages with and sometimes exists under and over nationalisms and thereby offers us a truly unique opportunity to focus on questions of not only regional identity politics but also the ethics of place.
Publications
Peer Reviewed Articles, Books, and Translations:

(2024). “The Flying Fish and the Lily” Translation of H. Liao. Taiwan Literature English Translation Series, 52. Taipei: National Taiwan University Press, forthcoming.

(2024). “If I Were There” Translation of J. Wu Taiwan Literature English Translation Series, 52. Taipei: National Taiwan University Press, forthcoming.

(2024). “Auntie Bao” Translation of H. Liu. Taiwan Literature English Translation Series, 52. Taipei: National Taiwan University Press, forthcoming.

(2024). “Island Inn” Translation of Y. Hao. Taiwan Literature English Translation Series, 52. Taipei: National Taiwan University Press, forthcoming.

(2024). “Reflections” Translation of Y. Hao. Taiwan Literature English Translation Series, 52. Taipei: National Taiwan University Press, forthcoming.

(2023). “Homegrown Stories: Gan Yao-ming’s Fiction.” Taiwan Literature in the 21st Century, C. Wu and M. Fan (Eds.). Singapore: Springer, 41-55.

(2020) “The Crises of Representation in Taiwan in Ruins and Ground Zero” Taiwan Wenxue yanjiu jikan. No. 24, 83-112.

(2020). “Mystery Train” Translation of Y. Kan. Taiwan Literature English Translation Series, 45. Taipei: National Taiwan University Press, 41-58.

(2019). “It All Starts in Hualien: Pangcah Woman; Rose, Rose, I Love You; and The Man with the Compound Eyes.” Positioning Taiwan in a Global Context: Being and Becoming, B. Chang and P. Lin (Eds.). London: Routledge, 45-60.

(2018). “The Mouse Serves a Guest Tea” Translation of C. Wang. Taiwan Literature English Translation Series, 42. Taipei: National Taiwan University Press,155-180.

(2017). “Novels and Movies.” Translation of H. Pai. Taiwan Literature English Translation Series, 40. Taipei: National Taiwan University Press,143-152.

(2016). “Water Buffalo.” Translation of K. Yang. Taiwan Literature English Translation Series, 38. Taipei: National Taiwan University Press, 159-166.

(2016). “Spring Sunlight Can't Be Shuttered.” Translation of K. Yang. Taiwan Literature English Translation Series, 38. Taipei: National Taiwan University Press, 3-10.

(2015). Translingual Narration: Colonial and Postcolonial Taiwanese Fiction and Film. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press.

(2015). “Sobbing.” Translation of C. Li. Taiwan Literature English Translation Series, 36. Taipei: National Taiwan University Press, 3-32.

(2014). “Landscapes and Sublime Memories: Revisiting Liang Xiaosheng's ‘A Land of Wonder and Mystery.’” Frontiers of Literary Studies in China, 8.4, 513-531.

(2013). “The Postcolonial Appearance of Colonial Taiwan: Film and Memory.” Frontiers of Literary Studies in China, 7.2, 194-213.

(2012). “Cultivating Taiwanese: Yen Lan-chuan and Juang Yi-tseng's Let It Be (Wumile).” Documenting Taiwan on Film: Issues and Methods in New Documentaries, S. Lin and T. Sang. (Eds.). London: Routledge, 150-185.

(2012). “Fallen Bud.” Translation of W. Chang. Taiwan Literature English Translation Series, 30. Santa Barbara: US-Taiwan Literature Foundation, 161-180. (Japanese to English).

(2011). “Camellias.” Translation of Y. Wu. Taiwan Literature English Translation Series, 27. Santa Barbara: US-Taiwan Literature Foundation, 139-168. (Japanese to English).

(2008). “Journey to Taimu Mountain.” Translation of C. Li. Taiwan Literature English Translation Series, 23. Santa Barbara: University of California, Santa Barbara, Center for Taiwan Studies, 67-108.

(2006). “Narratives of Discomfort and Ideology: Yang Kui’s Short Fiction and Postcolonial Taiwan Orthodox Boundaries.” Positions: East Asia Cultures Critique, 14.2, 427-447.

(2004). “Identity and Free Will in Colonial Taiwan Fiction: Wu Zhuoliu’s ‘The Doctor’s Mother’ and Wang Changxiong’s ‘Torrent.’” Modern Chinese Literature and Culture, 16.2, 160-183.
Last updated
03/27/2024