Fiction and Fieldwork

Abstract

Remains of Life is a contemporary Chinese novel from Taiwan originally published in 1999 and in English in 2017. Written by Wu He (penname of Chen Guocheng), the novel explores the historical memory of the 1930 Musha Incident, which was a violent conflict between members of the Seediq people and the Japanese colonizers. This interview with Wu He by the novel’s English translator examines the novel’s origins, the writing process, the unique structure and form of the book, and the author’s reflections on the Musha Incident.