How do the critiques delivered by Chi-chan and Mishima expose the unreliability of Aoyama’s narrative voice? How does this unreliability speak to the novel’s themes?

Explore the role of shared meals as a site of both connection and conflict. How does this novel reframe the politics of tourism, especially in light of the geopolitical power dynamics between Western and Eastern countries?

Examine Chi-chan’s methods of subtle resistance throughout the novel, aside from the use of her “Noh mask.” How else does she subvert Aoyama’s claim on her agency?

How does the symbolic conflict between the Taiwanese chōsan and the Japanese kimono reflect the politics of fashion? Use this conflict to comment on the way these politics manifest today.

Analyze how the novel’s metafictional ambiguity affects its resolution. Does the final chapter effectively resolve the tension of the colonial dynamics between Chi-chan and Aoyama? Why or why not?

Compare this novel to other stories that explore the nuances between personal relationship and political allegory, like M. Butterfly by David Henry Hwang. What do these texts suggest about interpersonal politics?

Discuss Hiyoshi Sagako’s wansheng identity in the context of the novel’s larger structure. Why is it important for the novel to frontload the central narrative with a voice that belongs to both of the cultures featured in the story?

Taiwan Travelogue is an example of historical metafiction, a genre that self-consciously uses fictional devices to comment on the writing of history. Discuss this text from the context of historiography, commenting on the ways self-aware or self-reflexive fiction can illuminate moments in history.