Indigenous literature in Taiwan has transcended its conventional categorization as merely one among many identity-based literary movements that have flourished during Taiwan’s democratization since the 1980s. In the twenty-first century, Indigenous stories have moved from the periphery to become what I characterize as the “Genesis of Taiwan Literature.” Both Indigenous and Han writers now recognize Indigenous experiences as fundamental to comprehending Taiwan’s past and envisioning its future. Indigenous mythologies, histories, and epistemologies have transformed into the wellspring from which contemporary Taiwanese literature draws its creative vitality. These Indigenous cosmologies now resonate as origin stories that nourish new literary currents throughout Taiwan.

Since 2000, fiction by Indigenous writers has developed speculative elements by combining mythologies with historical research. In these works, dreams, rituals, shamanic practices, and near-death experiences become portals through which Indigenous individuals find pathways into the collective memories of their communities. Indigenous writer Badai’s novel, The Shaman’s Journey (巫旅, 2014), portrays rituals enabling an Indigenous youth, constrained by mainstream education, to traverse time and commune with ancient trees to comprehend her ancestral heritage. In Yupas Watan’s (尤巴斯・瓦旦) Soul (魂魄, 2022), the narrator’s near-death experiences while hunting send him across time to participate in his ancestors’ armed resistance against Japanese military incursions. A trans-historical sense of community materializes through resonances created by rituals and somatic experiences. In Liglave Awu’s Chronicles of the Women’s Clan (女族記事, 2024), female chiefs receive hand tattoos that carry their family lineage and cosmologies. During the hand-tattooing ceremony, the young heir enters a threshold state when the pain on her hands draws her into a trance where she embodies an aerial vision of their guardian eagle, which guides her to understand her tribe’s origins and history. These moments of ritual create a gateway to enter history itself and experience its pulsing, tangible presence.

The themes of Indigenous cosmologies and histories confronting colonial powers have also become central to works by Han authors. Wu Ming-yi’s (吳明益) The Man with the Compound Eyes (複眼人, 2011) depicts the collision between island Indigenous peoples and the Pacific garbage patch. His The Sea Breeze Club (海風酒店, 2023) portrays a mythological giant, embodying the spirit of Taiwan’s mountains, facing the encroachment of cement industries. Similarly, Kan Yao-ming’s (甘耀明) novel Pangcah Girl (邦查女孩, 2015) explores the rich tradition of Pangcah herbal knowledge, while his minBunun (成為真正的人, 2021) portrays the Bunun worldview rooted in alpine environments. These narratives by Han writers adopt Indigenous cosmology and epistemology as their foundation for exploring Taiwan’s past and its potential futures.

These perspectives have inspired a new generation of writers to envision kinship relations beyond human-centric and heteronormative structures. In the Poetry of Animal Spirits (獸靈之詩, 2023), the Han writer Chiou Chang-ting (邱常婷) depicts familial ties between humans and non-humans. The Truku Indigenous writer Apyang Imiq’s (程廷) I Grew Up in an Open Tree Hollow (我長在打開的樹洞, 2021) draws parallels between queer relationships and the spiritual bonding in traditional hunting practices. This strand of works reveals how Indigenous experiences have moved decisively from the margins to become pivotal forces in Taiwan’s contemporary literature. These works collectively grapple with the question: How will our engagement with settler colonial histories and Indigenous transitional justice shape Taiwan’s future as an independent cultural entity? In writers’ response to this question, Indigenous stories are no longer mere products of identity crisis or efforts to preserve a vanishing culture; they have emerged as the genesis of a new literary era.

Editor’s Note: This report was originally presented at a forum organized by Nicolai Volland for the Modern Language Association convention held in New Orleans, January 9–12, 2025. Speakers included Chialan Sharon Wang, E.K. Tan, Wendy Wan-ting Wang, Wen-chi Li, Chia-rong Wu, Kate Costello, and Nicolai Volland. Sung-sheng Yvonne Chang served as discussant. After the convention, the presenters agreed to share their texts with Taiwan Lit. Some participants, however, were unable to submit their contributions due to various circumstances.