Praise for Impossible to Swallow

A Meditation on the Excesses of Authoritarian rule and Its Consequences

By Ian Chong(National Singapore University)

C.J. Anderson-Wu’s collection of short stories about the White Terror in Taiwan (1949-1987/1990) at once provides sensitive treatments of personal experiences under authoritarian rule and broader meditation about the effects of excessive, unrestrained, arbitrary state violence. In this respect, the collection of stories is both about Taiwan and the people there who lived through the White Terror and its consequences, as well as the more general phenomenon of authoritarian rule. The stories are reminiscent of so many of the personal stories about the White Terror in Taiwan and living under authoritarian rule elsewhere. They echo the anguish, sadness, and courage found in recently released letters from actual victims of the White Terror (the New York Times has a feature on this).

Importantly, the book makes it clear that while the perpetrator of violence was the state, victims were highly varied in their background. They include various groups that found themselves on Taiwan during the White Terror and the authoritarian rule of the KMT, including Hoklo, Mainlanders who fled from the CCP in China, as well as mixed blood children of American servicemen and local women. This cuts across the cruder older divide that saw all Taiwanese as victims and all Mainlanders as perpetrators or co-conspirators of the White Terror.

The narratives the book presents are important reflections and introspections on past experiences that are coming out of Taiwan at a time when its population are considering issues of transitional justice. Other recent English-language books on the topic are Shawna Yang Ryan’s “Green Island” and George Kerr’s “Formosa Betrayed” that was adapted into film. Writing in English allows Taiwan’s experience to speak more broadly and engage readers outside Taiwan with similar experiences. In fact, Taiwan’s experience under authoritarian rule parallels contemporaneous developments in many parts of Southeast Asia and Latin America. These pasts and the excesses of the state are critical to remember at a time when authoritarianism is again on the rise in the world.[image error]