Special Topics: Issue 44

The Art of Translation in Taiwan Literature: Getting Through AI and Moving Towards Sustainable Development 

In recent years, the writing, teaching, and study of Taiwan literature have been met with many epochal trends and developments. These include the normalization of multilingual language use, the diversification and expansion of literary forms (such as curation, guided tours, copywriting, and text visualization), and the narrowing gap between artificial intelligence (AI) and human intelligence. 

As the capabilities of AI come edges ever closer to human levels of intelligence, it has become increasingly integrated into domains of knowledge production and creative practice, evolving from an assistive tool to one that is gradually replacing certain forms of human labor and expertise, as seen in fields such as literary writing, visual content generation, programming, and interlingual translation. These developments are transforming how knowledge is created, organized, and interpreted, with implications for academic systems, scholarly norms, and interpretive practices alike. They also invite renewed reflection on the skills and ethics required in academia and the workplace.

The reception, creation, and practice of language in Taiwan are continually being deconstructed and reconstructed, as are the forms of national character and cultural subjectivity that language helps constitute. These ongoing processes take place within a multilingual and multicultural landscape shaped by national policies. The differences, debates, and negotiations emerging from these processes merit in-depth scholarly attention for their broader social significance. Avoiding these transformations is impossible; the only viable option is to navigate them by engaging with and adapting to these changes. As such, this issue has chosen the art of translation as its central concept while positioning both multilingualism and AI within the translation process. It invites contributors to consider how to “get through” AI, and in doing so, explore paths that may contribute to the sustainable development of Taiwan literature.

In line with this, the 44th issue of the Journal of Taiwan Literary Studies welcomes submissions addressing the topics listed below. As this special issue is organized in collaboration with the Association for Taiwan Literature, prospective contributors may also wish to consult the calls for papers issued by both the Association and the National Museum of Taiwan Literature. Suggested topics include, but are not limited to the following:

1. Systemic issues in the translation of Taiwan literature into and from other languages.
2. Recent developments in AI humanities and science and technology writing environments.
3. Papers examining the language used in canonical works of Taiwan literary history and their cross-cultural translation, as well as the significance of translation arising from the localization, transnational circulation, and dissemination of Taiwan literature and scholarship, with a view to furthering research on Taiwan’s multilingual and mixed-language phenomena and presenting their historical contexts.
4. Linguistic categorization and hybridity in Taiwan, including the historical use of Dutch, Japanese, and French, as well as the contexts surrounding the establishment of contemporary English-, Taigi-, Hakka-, and Indigenous-language television broadcastings and their language practices. Topics on cross-media hybridity across literature, film, music, theater, and other forms are also welcome.
5. The historical emergence and contemporary application of guoyu, from the development of a standard language to contemporary mixed-language practices.
6. AI and its relationship to writing, graphic design, audiovisual editing, as well as broader applications in translation, guided tours, curation, copywriting, linguistic diversity, and their connections to sociology (e.g., social and emotional learning [SEL]).
7. AI and translation in relation to genre hybridity in Taiwan literature, including combinations such as realism and magical realism, light novels and historical fiction, romance and historical fiction, New Immigrant literature and autobiography, or other cross-genre pairings.
8. The translation, reception, and influence of canonical works by Japanese-language writers in Taiwan during the era of Japanese rule. 
9. How teaching and research on Taiwan languages can respond to the Development of National Languages Act and develop ethical frameworks for the academic use of AI, with a view to building scholarly consensus.
10. Rethinking colonialism and postcolonialism in an ethnically diverse Taiwan.
11. Other topics on Taiwan literature.

Submission Deadline: December 31, 2026