Eyes of the Ocean - by Syaman Rapongan

About the Book

Eyes of the Ocean is Syaman Rapongan's literary autobiography, both a powerful story of survival in a settler state and a masterful portrait of the Indigenous artist as a young man.

Book Synopsis

Syaman Rapongan--one of the Indigenous Tao people of Orchid Island near Taiwan--calls himself an "ocean writer." His works blend Tao folklore and accounts of maritime life with keen critique of the social, psychological, and ecological harms of colonialism. Eyes of the Ocean is his literary autobiography, both a powerful story of survival in a settler state and a masterful portrait of the Indigenous artist as a young man.

In colloquial and vivid prose, Syaman Rapongan depicts Tao beliefs in ghosts, practices of exorcism, and the parallel worlds that exist alongside the human realm. He recounts his difficulties speaking Mandarin in school, his experiences of racial discrimination and exploitation in Taipei, and his decision to return to Orchid Island to rediscover his cultural heritage, as well as his travels to visit other Indigenous artists in places such as Greenland. Eyes of the Ocean also tells the story of Syaman Rapongan's formation as a writer, a practitioner of a genre of his own creation: colonial ocean island literature.

Introducing English-language readers to one of the leading Indigenous writers in Taiwan, this book shares a profound and deeply humane vision of Oceanic art and identity.

Review Quotes

An impactful memoir about staying true to yourself and your community in the face of attempts at erasure.-- "Foreword Reviews"

His is a world of waves, fish, clouds, and wind; a world of legends, tales, and indigenous knowledge; a world of words, that somehow, impossibly, capture the beauty and wonder of our relationship with the sea. His books are a homecoming for the soul. And, in a world increasingly dominated by cell phones, texts, and tweets, we need Syaman Rapongan more than ever.--Michael Berry, author of Speaking in Images and A History of Pain

Syaman Rapongan is one of Taiwan's most vital literary voices. In his Eyes of the Ocean, the sea is not just a setting but a living presence--a teacher, a memory, a worldview. Through it, he crafts an archipelagic vision that challenges colonial and continental notions of identity and belonging.--Gwennaël Gaffric, translator of the French edition of Liu Cixin's The Three-Body Problem

About the Author

Syaman Rapongan is an acclaimed author who grew up on Pongso no Tao or Orchid Island. After spending more than a decade studying and working in Taiwan, he returned to his home in 1989, joining the local Indigenous social movement and protesting a nuclear waste facility, and turned to literature in the 1990s. He has also made documentary films, founded a workshop on oceanic ethnography, and crossed the Pacific Ocean in a canoe.

Darryl Sterk is associate professor of translation at Lingnan University in Hong Kong. He has translated works by a number of Taiwanese writers, including Wu Ming-Yi's The Stolen Bicycle (2017) and Kevin Chen's Ghost Town (2022).