TAIWANESE BOOKSHELVES | 台灣書櫃
Oceanic Literature: Reimagining the Tao’s Place on the Global Map
「海洋文學：重新認識達悟族在世界地圖中的位置」
In Conversation with Author Syaman Rapongan (online) & the son Si Rapongan (in-person)
施藍波安與夏曼．藍波安（線上） 澳洲巡迴講座
Join us for an inspiring conversation with Si Rapongan, a Tao cultural documentarian, as we dive into the rich oceanic heritage of Lanyu (Orchid Island) and the legendary literary world of his father, the award-winning contemporary Indigenous writer Syaman Rapongan.
Through the intimate lens of a son inheriting his father’s legacy, this discussion will explore the profound relationship between the Tao people and the sea. The conversation will centre on their shared journey of building a traditional plank boat—a deep cultural bond that culminated in the stunning literary documentary I Dream of the Ocean (2025).
By delving into Syaman Rapongan’s celebrated autobiographical and ecological works, including Eyes of the Ocean and Eyes of the Sky, the event will examine how these narratives dismantle land-bound mindsets to reconstruct a world centred on maritime philosophy.
This event will also screen the documentary I DREAM OF THE OCEAN, which represents an intimate, four-year undertaking by director Chou Wen-chin. Turning his lens toward the monumental Tao/Yami maritime writer Syaman Rapongan and his son, Si Rapongan, Chou masterfully intertwines literature, physical labour, and ancestral heritage into a deeply sensory cinematic experience. The Sydney screening will take place on Saturday, 15 August (ticketed), while Canberra and Darwin will host screenings prior to the talk.
誠摯邀請您參與這場與達悟族文化紀錄工作者——施藍波安（Si Rapongan）的精彩對話，一同深入蘭嶼的海洋文化，並探索其父親、台灣當代極具代表性的原住民文學大家夏曼．藍波安（Syaman Rapongan）的傳奇文學世界。
透過兒子傳承父親生命軌跡的親密視角，本次座談將帶領觀眾領略達悟族人與海洋之間共生共榮的深刻連結。對話將圍繞著父子二人在蘭嶼共同建造傳統拼板舟的歲月——這段深厚的文化尋根之旅不僅化為了文學紀錄片《大海浮夢》（2025），更見證了兩代人對海洋與傳統制度的無聲守護。
本次活動也將放映紀錄片《大海浮夢》由導演周文欽歷時四年拍攝。本片將焦點對準達悟族海洋文學家夏曼・藍波安及其子希・藍波安，透過長時間貼身記錄，捕捉父子共同參與造舟、潛水與捕魚的生命實踐。導演周文欽延續其對勞動身體與自然環境關係的關注，將達悟族的文學、身體與文化傳承交織為可被感受的影像經驗。雪梨場放映將於 8 月 15 日（週六）舉行；坎培拉與達爾文場則將在座談會開始前進行放映。
About Si Rapongan 施藍波安 (夏曼．藍波安兒子）
施藍波安，來自台灣蘭嶼達悟族，長期與父親共同投入達悟族文化的田野紀錄與影像工作，2022年來我與父親共同完成雙人拼板舟，實現了與父親共同打造拼板舟及捕撈飛魚的夢想，在目宿媒體的支持下，也完成了大海浮夢這部文學紀錄片。
「2025我與父親及其造船團隊，完成了臺灣博物館與捷克國家科學博物館作為文化交流的拼板舟，成爲台捷交流重要的里程碑。希望能在本次活動中，從我的視角分享父親的文學創作及生命經驗，讓澳洲的民眾更加認識台灣，認識蘭嶼，認識達悟族的海洋文化。」
Si Rapongan is from the Tao (Yami) community of Lanyu (Orchid Island), Taiwan. Son of the award-winning author Syaman Rapongan, he has long worked alongside his father in documenting Tao culture through field research and visual media.
In 2022, he and his father completed a traditional two-person plank boat, fulfilling a shared dream of building the vessel together and participating in the flying fish harvest. With the support of Fisfisa Media, they also completed the literary documentary I Dream of the Ocean.
In 2025, he collaborated with his father and their boat-building team to create a traditional plank boat for cultural exchange between the National Taiwan Museum and the National Science Museum of the Czech Republic, marking an important milestone in Taiwan–Czech cultural relations.
Through this event, he hopes to share, from his own perspective, his father’s literary work and life experiences, and to introduce Australian audiences to Taiwan, Lanyu, and the rich oceanic culture of the Tao people.
About Syaman Rapongan 夏曼．藍波安
夏曼・藍波安（Syaman Rapongan），達悟族人，1957年生於蘭嶼。1973年離開故鄉，赴本島就讀台東中學。1980年代以降，台灣的原住民族運動風起雲湧，訴求正名、土地和自治。1989年夏曼・藍波安以反抗運動為契機，決定返回蘭嶼，將身分證上的漢名改為族名，重新學習成為一位「達悟人」。然而他的回家之路並不順暢：在台灣，作為達悟族人的他被蔑稱為番仔、「鍋蓋」，然而回到蘭嶼，卻又被族人視為「退化的雅美（達悟）男人」、沒有工作無法賺錢養家的海中獨夫。他以達悟族人的身份自我書寫、研究與詮釋，以達悟文化為基礎進行文學的再創造。他書寫海洋，但更是以海洋為中心，翻轉陸地思維，重新建構世界。然而什麼是海洋文學？他曾說：「我的身體就是海洋文學」。
他的小說作品如《大海浮夢》（2014）、《安洛米恩之死》（2015）和《大海之眼》（2018）連結了達悟族及其他島國，多數作品已有了各國語言譯本，包括日文、韓文、法文、義大利文、捷克文等。因此其不僅是優秀的達悟文學、海洋文學、台灣文學，更已堂堂朝世界文學的航道邁進。
Syaman Rapongan, born in 1957 on Lanyu (Orchid Island), is a Tao writer and anthropologist. He holds a Master’s degree in Anthropology from National Tsing Hua University and a degree in French Literature from Tamkang University.
His work integrates Tao linguistic structures with Chinese literary forms, challenging dominant cultural narratives while expanding the scope of Taiwan’s oceanic literature. After returning to Lanyu in the late 1980s, he re-engaged with traditional ways of life, rebuilding his cultural identity and transforming Tao maritime philosophy and lived experience into literary expression.
His writing is known for its lyrical, introspective style, exploring the relationship between humanity and the ocean, as well as the tensions between tradition and modernity. His works have received numerous major literary awards, including the Wu San-lien Literary Award, Taiwan Literature Award, Golden Tripod Award, Global Chinese Literary Nebula Award (Contribution Award), and the National Award for Arts. Widely translated, he is regarded as one of the most important Indigenous writers in contemporary Taiwan.
